Building trust and encouraging dialogue between teachers and students

Understanding. Resolution. Compromise. Conversation. Empathy. Exchange of experiences.

These are just a few of the words that were the topic of an active youth retreat that took place in Krushevo from January 24 to 26, 2024 in the presence of teachers and children from OOU Krume Kepeski and OOU Kiril Pejcinovich from a municipality Kisela Voda - Skopje.

This event was an excellent opportunity for young people to work together on the topics of tolerance and dialogue and work on increasing awareness of the importance of mental health and well-being, both alone and in collaboration with teachers.

The development of dialogue and trust strengthens the role of young people in society

The inclusion of young people in the dialogue and solving the problems caused by bullying and peer violence is more and more important in this society of ours. Young people definitely face challenges related to the modern way of functioning: too much internet, too little real and authentic communication, too little compassion, empathy between peers, existence of violence in words, thoughts and actions, etc.

Although it is easiest to say that young people are to blame for their behavior, the truth has many faces.

According to our experience and the statements of the participants, the active youth retreat really helped to significantly improve communication and understanding between the participants: students and teachers. This two-day event definitely had a positive impact on the well-being, confidence and cooperation of the participants, as they all concluded on the last day of the event.

 

The main objectives for organizing this retreat were::

1. To build trust and strengthen the dialogue between young people, but also between young people and teachers.
2. To raise awareness of mental health issues and promote wellbeing among them.
3. To provide them with new strategies for successfully dealing with peer bullying and violence.

 

The program of the retreat consisted of:

1. Interactive sessions: Topics included information on peer violence, communication in schools, conflict resolution and empathy.
2. Games: Scenarios we worked on reflected real life situations in order to help students understand different perspectives.
3. Group Discussions: Discussions were moderated by the trainer Zoran Stojkovski, which enabled personal sharing security.
4. Team Building Games: We had activities that fostered trust and cooperation between teachers and students.
5. Creative games: Participants shared their thoughts on a billboard.
6. Mentoring approach: Under the guidance of the trainer, 2 action plans were developed for the prevention of bullying

A direct benefit of an oppoj retreat is the improvement of communication and relationships between participants, both students and teachers.

As they all said, this was the first time that teachers and children were equal and working together on such a significant problem.

The active youth retreat in Krushevo represents an innovative step towards solving the challenges faced by young people in the digital age. Through this strategic collaboration, the retreat takes a step forward towards building a more compassionate, understanding and communicative community between young people and teachers.

The project #HealthyME "Healthy ME" is intended to support and improve the mental well-being of young people, and is supported by the EU Civil Resilience Mechanism (CRM), a program for direct support of civil society organizations launched within the project. funded by the EU: Technical support for improving the enabling environment for civil society organizations in the Republic of North Macedonia.

We are dedicated 100 % to youth and improving their mental health and well-being!

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