Aims and Background

Aims

The common objectives:

• Decision making level: In Government, in society and especially at school
  
• the Research and Evaluation
  
• Broadcasting School Wellbeing
  
• Training
  
• The empowerment of whole school ethos and pupils active participation

Aims:

• Visibility to the mental health promotion and combating violent behaviour of children and young people
  
• Dissemination of the best practises
  
• Co-operation between other Networks

The types of activity:

• Exchange of knowledge and experience at conferences, seminars, meetings
  
• European training courses
  
• Media and communication technologies: Internet, TV-work and other Media
  
• Evaluation

The Background

Safety at schools was highlighted during the Dutch EU-presidency 1997. As a conclusion The Council of the European Union called upon the member states to continue and where necessary improve their activities in fostering safety at school. The Council also set up an experts group on Violence in Schools to support the specific exchange of information and experience concerning safety at school and to support transitional pilot projects and conferences in the field. The expert group existed till the end of 1999.

Finland highlighted the importance of putting mental health promotion on the European Agenda during its EU-presidency in autumn 1999. As part of this Agenda process there was organised the 1st International Conference on Promoting Mental Health at School "From Ripples to Waves". The resolution of the conference forwarded to the European Conference on Mental Health Promotion and Social Inclusion, Tampere, October 1999. The work to raise the mental health promotion at school will continue in each country that is holding an EU-presidency.

Objectives, activities envisaged, and results anticipated

During the years 1999-2001 organisations and the institutions from the 9 of the Member states (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and United Kingdom) and one associated country Norway, will combine efforts on mental health promotion of children and young people and combating violent behaviour of girls and boys in schools in Europe.

Girls and boys express themselves differently in behaviour. Boys are more prone to antisocial and openly violent behaviour, girls express themselves more in nearest interpersonal relations, there is increasing openly violent behaviour among girls also. Self-destructive behaviour is evident in alcohol and drug abuse. Depression and eating disorders are typical symptoms of victims of violence among girls. Both boys and girls need support and guidance in developing social life skills, good self-esteem and active participation in society.

There is an increasing awareness of harmful effects on violence of children's lives be it violent experience at home, school or on the street. Also violent national and international conflicts have a long lasting effects on children's future. Violence can be destructive on emotional, physical and sexual spheres of life.

The need of in-service teacher training to handle the stressful situations and giving tools to nurture better school ethos and atmosphere is significant. This message comes from inside of the school where European teachers face daily the results of family violence, international conflicts and violence in Media.

To be able to cope with violence in the television and movies children and young people need a better media literacy, the ability to understand what violence in broadcasting means, how it is created and how one should deal with the feelings it causes. In this case health literacy would also be improved simultaneously. We already know something of the attitudes towards violence among youth: what is needed is an in-service teacher-training module with which the teachers and the journalists could process violence together taking the view of a child.

Schools should not be left alone to solve the problems created outside of the school but to combine efforts in the society to combat the violence.

The network of mental health promotion of children and young people and combating violent behaviour of girls and boys in Europe aims to find best practises to promote mental wellbeing and whole school ethos in terms of current needs and challenges but also with a view to promoting more healthy and confident societies.

The fact is that there is a rich diversity of practises and a variety of approaches to promote mental health and combat violence in schools. This project provides also funds for translation so that the best manuals and practises would reach all the member states.

As a result of this project a proposal for an European Action Plan to Combat Violence in School will be forwarded to the Ministries in the European Union at the Connect fi final Conference in Brugge, Belgium 28.-29.11.2001.