Skopje, 8 May 2023 (MIA) - Thirty-seven percent of children in our schools say they do not feel safe in school, while 24 percent claim they are victims of physical violence, show results of the research project carried out by a team of professors from the Skopje-based Faculty of Philosophy.

The research included more than 2,000 students and results show that violence is on the rise.

"When I say on the rise, let me make a comparison to the situation a decade ago, because the topic of my PhD thesis was violence on children in schools, and back then we had children who maybe did not recognize violence or only a small portion did, although digital or cyber violence was not on the agenda at that time. Today, digital violence is one of the most common problems that youth or children are facing. It is astonishing to see that 37 percent of children say they do not feel comfortable and safe in schools," said professor and team member Sofija Georgievska.

She added that children not always know how to identify violence.

"Sometimes they will say someone joked and it was not violence. But if we ask them how they felt at that moment, they say it was not pleasant and if it happens more than twice a week, they will not want to go to school the next day. I believe that we should turn on the alarm and work with our children. When trauma happens, one can see how little we know about the trauma children come across and even less about the development traumas that children face," said Georgievska

Girls are much more empathetic, she added, more sensitive and commit psychological violence to a larger extent, but also victims of psychological violence as well. When it comes to physical violence, boys are the ones who commit it more frequently.

Georgievska appeals to parents and teachers to talk to the children, saying it is alarming that 27 percent of children do not know who to tell they are victims of violence.

"Twenty-seven percent is a big number that says 'I feel bad and don't know where to say it'. Parents, teachers, expert services are those who have to be the first link for the child to say how he/she feels, what makes them sad or happy," said Georgievska.

Minister of Education and Science Yeton Shaqiri said the Government is committed to a peaceful and safe environment in schools.

"We are acting in a preventive way. Every project of the academic community and the civil society of such type is of enormous importance in building safety in schools and mutual respect and tolerance. We all have to promote positive values, so that young people turn into good persons and violence is never an option. Let's act preventively before it's too late," said Shaqiri.

He added that a protocol is being developed and the initial recommendations would be delivered to the schools by the end of the week.  

Photo: MIA