EAN brings together EU initiatives against school bullying
On 8 and 9 December, the European Anti-bullying Network (EAN) held its second meeting and an international conference at the headquarters of the European Parliament in Brussels. EAN brings together European organizations who are combating school bullying. It was noted that bullying is increasing and that the European Union needs to realize that school bullying cannot be fought adequately under the general policy heading of "anti-violence" policies.
Challenging the European Union
EAN was founded in 2014 when it became clear that Europe needs a more concerted effort to combat school bullying. The meeting and conference of 2015 were held at the European parliament to stress that the European Union needs to increase her efforts. In her first year, EAN has requested the European Union to adopt a community wide "anti-school bullying day", but this was refused because "Europe already has an anti-violence day, which cover all violence". This shows the lack of awareness.
The conference, entitled "Dare to bullying priority on the European agenda", was promoted by the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Dimitrios Papadimoulis and brought together academics and organizations working on the ground to address and prevent bullying. The aim of the conference was to present to MEPs the alarming rise of the phenomenon and the need for coordination at European level.
Peter Smith, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of London, presented the results of a meta-research on bullying, demonstrating an increase in cyber-bullying. According to this research, 10.3% of the victims suffered cyber bullying 2 or 3 times in a period of two months, while 11.3% have experienced any form of bullying in the same period.
GALE is the first LGBT-oriented organization to join EAN. It joined EAN a few months ago. Peter Dankmeijer, GALE director read an introductory paper on the specific aspects of LGBT bullying is schools , which was well received.
New members are welcome
The EAN network currently consists of 20 members from 15 EU countries (Greece, Bulgaria, Estonia, Croatia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom). The secretariat is taken care of by the Greek organization Smile of the Child, who does this pro deo.
Network members ΕΑΝ pledged to mobilize national and European actors involved in the fight against bullying. New members are welcomed by (EAN. The next General Assembly of EAN and a 3rd international conference will be held on 23 and 24 June 2016 in Malta.
For information: f.cesaroni@cooss.marche.it