Bucharest, October 26, 2022 – Asociația Părinților Isteți and the Vodafone Romania Foundation launch „Education without bullying”, the only application that helps prevent and combat bullying in Romania. The application, which can be downloaded for free from Google Play or the App Store, protects the anonymity of the user and is very easy to utilize by all interested parties: children, parents, teachers, regardless of the type of phone they own. The project is financed by the Vodafone Romania Foundation through the Good Deeds Fund.
At the European level, Romania ranks third in terms of bullying amongst the 42 countries in which the phenomenon was investigated, according to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The answer to the question: „What can I do about school bullying?” is now a click away. The application is created by the same specialists who worked on the bullying prevention law in pre-university education units. This extremely useful tool is part of the National Strategic Campaign for Awareness, Prevention and Combating Bullying launched in 2017 by Asociația Părinților Isteți, together with Itsy Bitsy, with the aim of obtaining a climate conducive to learning and to the physically, emotionally and psychologically harmonious development of children in the Romanian educational environment.
The application offers easy access to the legislation on bullying and helps the user directly reach the institutions capable of providing solutions in the case of aggression, or specifically of bullying and cyberbullying, being designed as a tool to help victims, but also those in the position of witnesses to bullying.
Because the most important thing is preventing the phenomenon of bullying, and because the public is still under a lot of confusion regarding the types of aggression among children and the way Romanian laws protect children, the application provides correct, clear, and practical information, under form of short videos, specifically designed for different social categories: children, parents and teachers. The video materials are recorded by psychologists specialized in working with children and on bullying topics: Adriana Mitu and Gabriela Maalouf. What are the differences between aggression, bullying and abuse? How can you act as a victim or witness under the current laws? Who can help you if you are a child, a teacher, a parent or a witness of any kind? How can you prevent violence of any kind in the school environment? These are just some of the questions for which the application provides quick answers directly on the user’s phone.
The anti-bullying cause and the „Education without bullying” application are supported both by relevant influencers for children and teenagers, such as Mimi and Andra Gogan, and by influencers loved by parents and teachers: Andra and Cătălin Măruță, Andreea Marin, Călin Goia, Tily Niculae or Slices. Online content creator Mimi, who knows from her own experience how hard it is to be a victim of bullying, to feel hurt, alone and helpless, now recommends that all students use the „Education Without Bullying” app: „There is always someone willing to help you, you just have to dare to ask for help.”
Andreea Marin also recommends the application as a very useful helping tool for parents, teachers and children: „You can download the „Education without bullying” app for free and get help on the spot, in any kind of a situation of aggression against a child. This tool would have been very helpful to me, as a child, when I was dealing with bullying, even though, at the time, I didn’t know it was called that.”
Students can register here to attend the free online „Education without bullying” conference on Saturday, November 5, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Teachers can register here to attend one of the free online „Education without bullying” conferences: Saturday – November 12, 10:00 – 13:00 (grades 0-4) or Saturday – November 19, 10:00 – 13:00 (grades 5 – 12).
The content of the application is based on Law 221/2019 and the Methodological Norms of application/June 2020, which resulted from the collaboration of the best specialists in the country, representatives of institutions and organizations involved in preventing and combating the phenomenon of bullying. The application is created by Asociația Părinților Isteți, with the support of the Vodafone Romania Foundation, in partnership with the National Authority for the Protection of Children’s Rights and Adoption, the General Directorate of Bucharest Police, the National Council of Students and Itsy Bitsy.
Asociația Părinților Isteți militates for over 5 years to prevent and combat bullying, being the co-initiator of the National Strategic Campaign to prevent and combat bullying, together with Itsy Bitsy FM. Asociația Părinților Isteți is part of the team that developed the Methodological Norms for the implementation of the bullying prevention law, which is still working on the guidelines for the implementation of these normes in all pre-university educational institutions in Romania. The association has so far organized the social campaign «Bullying starts at home and continues at school» (2017), bullying prevention campaigns addressed to teachers, Grădinițe fără Bullying (Kindergartens without Bullying – 2017), Școli fără Bullying (Schools without Bullying – 2018), the resource book „Cum să fii cool la școală – Educație fără bullying” („How to be cool in school – Education without bullying” – 2021), the campaign “Creștem în siguranță” („Grow up safely”- 2021), the campaign “Școli cu toleranță 0 la violență” („Schools with zero tolerance for violence“ 2022).
Vodafone Romania Foundation is a Romanian non-governmental organization and registered charity distinct and independent from the company’s commercial operations, established in 1998. In its more than 20 years of activity, Vodafone Romania Foundation has financed 1,168 programs run by 745 NGOs from around the country. The projects have had more than 3 million beneficiaries: children, young people, elderly, physically, socially or economically disadvantaged people. So far, Vodafone Romania Foundation has invested over 31 million euros in projects implemented by partner non-profit organizations. More details about the Foundation’s programs can be found at www.fundatia-vodafone.ro, http://jurnaldebine.fundatia-vodafone.ro/ and www.facebook.com/fundatiavodafone.
