“Joking is one thing and offense is another”, says speaker in Seduc webinar on combating bullying

The State Department of Education (Seduc-MT) held this Thursday (25) the webinar “Bullying and Cyberbullying: “Diverse and Inclusive School Community” for students, education professionals and the entire school community. The action aimed to promote awareness about the negative effects of bullying and cyberbullying and also guide them on the skills to resolve these conflicts.

One of the guests and speaker at the Webinar, journalist Luzimar Collares, highlighted that bullying cannot be considered a joke and that violent and aggressive speech within the school environment can be disturbing for those who suffer. “Joking is one thing and insult is another, this applies to both the student and the teacher and other education professionals”.

For Luzimar, it is important that we discuss a subject like this with society in general, as many end up bullying due to lack of knowledge. “So, awareness is the first step”, he assessed.

Teachers and other education workers are engaged in schools with dialogues that enable the development of socio-emotional skills aimed at tolerance, resilience, empathy and respect for diversity. “It is necessary to always talk about bullying, which humiliates, intimidates and traumatizes people of all ages”, said Patrícia Carvalho, responsible for the School Mediation Center at Seduc.

She said that the actions began with the “Week to prevent and combat bullying and cyberbullying”, in all 647 schools in the network, due to the National Day to Combat Bullying and Violence at School, celebrated on April 7th. “We are combating bullying in schools with the involvement of the entire school community, constant awareness campaigns and training of pedagogical teams”, added Patrícia.

Roger Adriel, psychologist from the psychosocial team at Escola Estadual Dom Pedro II, in Cuiabá, participated in the webinar and believes that the actions carried out by Seduc in April are necessary to create safer and healthier environments for everyone. “Currently, we have been working a lot in our school, not only on the issue of awareness, but also on coping”, he argued.

The students, Anny Gabriieli, 15 years old, and José Augusto, 16, both in the 1st year of high school at Escola Estadual José Leite de Moraes, in Várzea Grande, presented at the event the good practices that the school has carried out and has been carrying out with its students in preventing and combating bullying and cyberbullying.

According to the students, the school has a partnership with the Civil Police to hold lectures and actions also involving the Student Union. “We learned what bullying is and how it works and can also present itself as harmful behavior in the future”, highlighted Anny.

Student José Augusto highlighted a podcast made for elementary school students. “We use a question and answer model, so we resolve many doubts”, he added.

The president of the Dom Pedro II School Student Union, Leonardo César, 13 years old, an 8th year elementary school student, mediated the webinar and also spoke about his school’s actions in combating bullying and cyberbullying.

According to him, lectures and conversation circles are held throughout the year, making all students aware of the problem and its severity. “It worked at my school and today we are sharing the result with our colleagues.”

Also participating in the webinar were the representative of the National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (CONANDA), Raul Zainedin, resident in the State of Paraná, the State representative for the Rights of Children and Adolescents, Rafael Sedano, student at Escola Estadual Ulisses Guimarães and resident in the Municipality of Campo Verde, in addition to Gabriel Rodrigues, representative of the Brazilian Union of Students (UBES).