As part of the project “Hands that create, not destroy – building bridges, not walls,” the Public Elementary School “Mujaga Komadina” Mostar hosted a team from the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which conducted an interactive and educational workshop focused on preventing peer violence and vandalism in the local community.
A special emphasis of the workshop was the promotion of the Platform for the Advancement of Children’s Rights – an innovative space where children have the opportunity to freely express their opinions, participate in discussions, and become active participants in decision-making processes that concern their rights and everyday lives.
The Ministry’s expert team linked the topics of internet safety, non-violent communication, and creative expression with the opportunities the Platform itself offers to children. Through practical tasks, discussions, and an online safety test, students learned how to recognize risky situations, protect themselves in cases of violence, use social media responsibly, and actively contribute to positive change – precisely in the way they can also do through the Platform.
The importance of responsible digital behaviour was emphasized, as well as the power of communication in preventing conflicts and peer violence. The students then performed a short sketch portraying different roles in a violent situation — the victim, the observer, the bully, and the responsible adult — which helped them understand, in a practical way, the complexity of the problem and the importance of reporting risky situations.
The concluding message of the workshop was clear: a community becomes safer and stronger when children have a voice, actively participate, and choose cooperation, responsibility, and creativity — both in the real and digital environment.
This activity was carried out as part of the project “Strengthening the school system in three cantons through teacher training and the school model,” implemented by the International Association “Interactive Open Schools” Tuzla in cooperation with the Pedagogical Institutes of Mostar and Zenica, with the financial support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Freudenberg Foundation.
Photos taken from the Facebook page of Elementary School “Mujaga Komadina” Mostar
