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Article includes:
Web Resources of Europe Council (eng, fr):
Official documents of the Europe Council
Other publications of the Europe Council (can be downloaded or consulted in the reading room of the Pro-European)
Other Publications
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Today in school, children are no longer faced with the cruel teachers - almost all Europe prohibits corporal punishment in school. But violence remains in the shadows - particularly in the form of aggression. Children who are a bit different: smarter, taller or smaller, or a different color skin or different emphasis may be the target of attacks.
Violence in schools is one of the most visible forms of violence against children, but the idea that it is growing is not fully supported by statistics. The idea that public schools are unsafe is fueled in part by media sensation and is not supported or is too little sustained analysis. However, public awareness and intolerance of the violence in schools has increased in the last 10 years and many European governments have introduced violence on their political agenda.
There are several techniques that have been proven to be effective in stopping aggression. One approach identified by the Council of Europe is to create a positive and democratic school, where everyone, teachers, students and staff are included and listened to. A successful method is mediation: bringing together two opposing parties to discuss the issue in front of a neutral. Some schools have been able to adopt this method, children acting as mediators for them, substantially reducing in this way, violence. To help implement existing strategies in different countries, the Council of Europe has produced a manual that contains best practices for combating and preventing violence in school: "Reducing violence in schools - a guide for change."
