In the movie theater of Options Cinemas in Patras, full of children’s faces “The Child’s Smile” with her valuable support Coffee Island presented, on Thursday, March 28, the short film “The thoughts of Nefelis”. “The Child’s Smile” on the occasion of the ever-exponentially increasing incidents of bullying among minors, and with the aim of to give substance and voice to the feelings experienced by a receiving child Bullying, to awaken the school community but also society as a whole created this film.
With the help of Coffee Island, as a Proud Anti-Bullying Supporter, “The Child’s Smile” managed to be, proactively, next to students all over Greece for this school year, touching on issues of school bullying.
With their presence, on Thursday March 28, we were honored by the Deputy Regional Governor Mr. Charalambos Bonanos, Ms. Niki Martzakli representing the Deputy Regional Governor for Social Policy and Family Ms. Georgia Datsika, the Director of Secondary Education of Achaia Ms. Eugenia Pierri, the Head of Health Education of Secondary Education of Achaia Mrs. Ioanna Thomopoulou, the Head of 1u KEDASY Achaia Ms. Maria Biliani, the Head of 2u KEDASY Achaia Ms. Efthymia Serafim, Ms. Evangelia Malamaki member of the Board of Directors. of the Organization “The Smile of the Child”, o Managing Director her Coffee Island Mr. Panagiotis Konstantinopoulos, n Public Relations Executive her Coffee Island Mrs. Dimitra Givisi and Senior Communication Supervisor her Coffee Island Mrs. Venia Rapti.
THE President of the Board of Directors of the Organization, Mr. Costas Yiannopoulos he reported that as parents we have to protect our children, to ensure to feel safe wherever they are and how only by creating a network of cooperation –parents, teachers, experts– its phenomenon can be treated and eliminated bullying which both within the school environment and outside it, afflicts the children.
THE Managing Director her Coffee Island Mr. Panagiotis Konstantinopoulos addressing the students added: “We embraced the “Speak Now” campaign from the very beginning. With sensitivity, simplicity, truth and the immediacy that “Nefelis’s thoughts” give, we wanted to stand next to all children who are or may be in a position to experience violence or bullying. We are here and we support actions that respect the diversity and uniqueness of the individual, that empower, inspire and contribute to the creation of a better present and certainly future”.
After the screening, Psychologists of the Organization, who daily carry out Prevention and Awareness interventions for the phenomenon of intra-school violence throughout Greece, moderated an open discussion with the students, who actively participated, presenting their own perspective and opinion on the phenomenon as well as personal stories they have experienced. Among other things, the psychologists of the Organization emphasized that it is important for children, whether they are being bullied or are observers, to talk to someone they trust, to contact the Organization “The Smile of the Child”, through the National SOS Hotline 1056 and the CHAT1056 application or even Cyber Tip line Hellas by making their report electronically.
It is important to mention that following the end of the event the students, following the prompting of the Organization’s psychologists, the balloons that were in the area with the message “Speak Now” and “Break the Silence” burst -messages of the Organization’s Panhellenic Student Campaign- as a symbolic move to combat Violence by children themselves.
The short film was created with the springboard of the Pan-Hellenic Student Campaign “Speak Now”, which has been taking place since 2014 and has the approval of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs and focuses on information, awareness and mobilization once morest the phenomenon of Intra-School Violence and Bullying. The film was made in collaboration with Vangelis Nakis and PSDM Athens.
The film is based on real incidents of Domestic Violence reported to the National Children’s Hotline SOS 1056 of the Organization, from students who experienced Bullying and who tried to do something regarding it, to talk, to turn to an adult so that they stop feeling alone. What happened to Nefeli?
Nefeli is 16 years old, she lives in Athens with her mother who loves her very much, she is a high school student and lives a normal reality of a child her age, or at least that’s how it seems… In the last months of her life she has changed, she is less talkative, more withdrawn, she doesn’t sleep at night, she’s stopped eating and the doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong with her. She spends most hours alone locked in her room. For company she only has her thoughts and feelings… Protagonists in her life are all the things she feels, they drive her actions. Will Nefeli’s thoughts lead her to the end of her story or to the beginning?
The pain, the fear, the shame are inside the children who experience the harsh reality of bullying. This phenomenon is constantly intensifying as at the SOS Children’s Line 1056, the Counseling Line 116111 and also Chat 1056, every day we manage cases of school bullying like Nefeli’s… In 2023 only the Organization provided 1 consultation every 2 days for bullying to children. It is worth noting that based on the Organization’s recent Research:
- 1 in 3 children throughout Greece he receives school bullying and
- 1 in 6 children across the country report feeling how their school does not teach them not to bully their classmates.
We also thank the 5th Gymnasium of Alimos for providing the school for the filming of the film as well as the schools from Patras that participated in the screening Kastritsiou Gymnasium, Aegeiras Gymnasium, the 2The High School of Patras and ENEEGYL of Patras.
Talk Now, regarding what you feel!
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