GPPAC Peace Education Working Group online course

Protection from Digital Violence by Using Critical Thinking

Facilitators: Biljana Lajović, school psychology specialist and Tatjana Popović, peace educator

Workshop 1: 12 October 2022

“Homework” - Assignment

1. Analyze situation in your country regarding digital violence

2. Is it regulated?

3. Are there any laws on this?

4. In which system?

5. Are they applied/implemented?

6. What are the challenges/difficulties in enforcing the laws?

1. I have the opportunity to visit schools and work with teachers in formal education but I
also work closely with non-governmental organizations that are dealing with this very
important issue. More and more children show signs of passive indiscipline, we don’t
have problems with broken windows but with broken hearts. Each age has got its
specific forms of violence; forming groups that attack one child (viber, whats up),
identity theft and sending false information, isolating an individual on social and
economic level, gossiping, showing hostile mood, mocking. It is hurtful and many
children are in deep pain. Yesterday I went to a small town of Čapljina near Mostar and
 we had a workshop “Neprihvatljiva i potencijalno rizična ponaašnja u virtualnom
okružju”, and one student, who was accidentally in that class in the library, (he is
younger than that group of 9th graders) said that his life was of no use anymore because
he was a target of mocking all the time. I was left speechless and the children were
confused, some were laughing. Ugly ways there were, hiding and seeking, not showing
hostility openly but isolating person that the poor girl/boy thinks it is his/her fault.
Many situations are kept hidden in schools not to bother teachers or local community,
many teachers are constantly saying:”We are not psychologists or moms”, but I say
“Well you should have been, it is all in the word “teacher”, why did you choose that
vocation”???
We are actually very primitive community with malls and nice buildings and cars, but
horrible self-esteem that is mainly built on nothing at all. Smart pupils are not allowed
to say anything in order not to offend the “popular” ones, they cannot show their
interest otherwise they will be mocked. It bothers me a lot, those children will grow up
to be bad people, bad coworkers and bad parents.

2. There is this protocol in cases of violence and schools have it in their programs, but the
aim is on prevention. It is too late when it get to acting upon it.
3. There are no specific laws about this topic, nothing new when it comes to this sort of
criminal deeds.
4. I am not familiar with laws that deal with for example, hate speech, I assume there is
something. But I have never heard that someone was accused or prosecuted for flaming
or cyberbullying.
5. I have never heard of implementation of those laws but it doesn’t mean there are no
such, I asked my colleges and they are not sure about it. It is in Herzegovina-Neretva
Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
6. Constant prevention, teacher and educators initial education and bringing up certain
topics in society is the key to solving this issue. Our families are not all equipped with
sane and decent parents that will raise and educate their children in a normal way,
obeying the society. So parents’ workshops and organized meetings and cooperation
with willing teachers can prevent and annul any form of misbehavior or wrong
relationship standards among children. Some things should not be allowed, we also
have some very intellectually and morally deviated teachers that check children clothes
mark and send horrible message to other children. Even physical violence is not
prosecuted but is confirmed as something normal and childish.