25.2.2010
Today the Manual of the Program for the Prevention of Electronic Violence has been presented in the Josip Račić elementary school. The manual was created as a part of the UNICEF and Brave Phone’s campaign Break the Chain!, as a response to increasingly frequent occurrence of violence and abuse through mobile phones and Internet. On that occasion the following persons spoke about the campaign, the Manual, and the importance of prevention: Đurđa Adlešić, Vice Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Jasenka Pregrad, editor and author of the Manual, Tomislav Horvat, Headmaster of the Josip Račić elementary school, Maja Weber, Director of the Public Relations Department of T-Hrvatski Telekom, and Lora Vidović, Head of the UNICEF Office for Croatia.
The Manual was created after the implementation of the pilot project for the prevention of electronic violence in 3 elementary schools. It is the first Manual in Croatia that provides practical instructions on how to educate children and parents about the safe use of Internet. The program of prevention is entirely designed by national experts in the field of psychology and social pedagogy, headed by Jasenka Pregrad, psychologist and professional head of the UNICEF program for safe and motivating environment in schools.
Peer violence through Internet or mobile phones has been recognized in many schools included in the Network of Schools without Violence, a forum enabling schools included in the UNICEF program of prevention to exchange and improve their experience in violence reduction. At the very first meeting schools pointed out that the current knowledge within schools about the prevention of peer abuse was not sufficient to prevent the new type of violence and that teachers were on average far less skilled in the use of new media than pupils.
In view of the fact that children know much more about new media than adults, in writing this Manual and creating the program the expert team was faced with challenges such as the balance between the usefulness and value of new media and the danger and need for protection, the anonymity of the virtual world, and the issue of who was responsible for responding to violence over Internet and mobile phones.
At the moment the program for the prevention of electronic violence is being carried out in 37 elementary schools, while the interest for education in this field is increasing on a daily basis. All activities within the program are financed through donations of citizens and companies within the campaign Break the Chain! So far, HRK 592,000.00 has been raised for the implementation of the program. All mobile operators and leading IT companies helped the cause within Microsoft Windays 2009. UNICEF would like to use this opportunity to thank everyone who participated in the campaign by donating their time, space, services, expertise, and money.