Joining forces to help put a stop to school bullying. 

On March 25, a professional discussion on the topic “The negative impact of bullying on the socialization process of learners” was held at the YSU Pedagogy and Education Development Center. The discussion brought together more than 30 school principals, teachers and students, experts in the field of education and representatives of various organizations.

The discussion was welcomed by the Director of the YSU Pedagogy and Education Development Center, Professor N. Harutyunyan, YSU Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs E. Asriyan, Director of the “Vardanank” Educational Complex G. Soghomonyan, Director of the Center for Educational Research and Consulting M. Galstyan, and Coordinator of Educational Programs of the “Teach for Armenia” Foundation M. Aleksanyan.

Associate Professor of the YSU Pedagogy and Education Development Center, M. Sc., Ph.D. Ashikyan, Researcher of the Center for Educational Research and Consulting Arevik Hambardzumyan and Associate Professor of the Department of Psychology of YSU, PhD D. Sargsyan presented lectures on different aspects of bullying.
Researcher of our center Arevik Hambardzumyan, presented international experience in developing and implementing anti-bullying strategies, perceptions of bullying, which emphasised how learners in schools who participated in the study perceive bullying in student-student, student-teacher relationships. “Students describe bullying with the following words:
mockery, insult, humiliation, violation of children’s rights, pressure, imposing one’s will, unequal treatment, neglect, swearing, putting in an uncomfortable position, not communicating, bad relationships, etc.”

Principals of different schools also presented their experience in overcoming and preventing bullying cases. Students from different schools made impressive speeches at the discussion and presented their experiences of bullying and overcoming bullying, emphasising that overcoming bullying has been successful in all cases when the entire school community and the family have closely cooperated.

The discussion was a very important and professional platform to highlight the main causes, forms of bullying, and, of course, possible and effective mechanisms for overcoming, responding to, and preventing bullying. In terms of responding to and preventing bullying, the participants emphasised the joint work of the entire school community, including teachers, students, and parents, and highlighted the social educator's role in this process.

Director of the YSU Pedagogical and Educational Development Center, Professor N. Harutyunyan stated that the university and the academic community also have a great influence on overcoming and preventing the negative consequences of bullying. He assured that the YSU Pedagogy and Education Development Center is ready to continue supporting schools and invest its professional potential in the fight against bullying.

The director of our center, M. Galstyan, emphasized that the Center for Educational Research and Consulting is also ready to invest its expert potential with partner organizations in the continuous study of bullying and the development of effective solutions.

We are grateful to the entire staff of the YSU Pedagogy and Education Development Center for jointly organizing and implementing such an important professional discussion, as well as to all partner organizations for cooperation, and we are grateful to the participants for sharing their important experiences.

We have been cooperating with the YSU Pedagogy and Education Development Center for a long time. A year ago, we signed a memorandum of cooperation, one of the goals of which is also the implementation of such joint professional discussions.