The importance of talking about violence in education

On March 4, the University of Azuay together with its Publishing House launched the Violence Prevention Guide Composed of three volumes that deal with positive coexistence aimed at boys, girls and pre-adolescents in the school and academic environment.

This guide is based on the undergraduate work of six students, now professionals, of the Clinical Psychology career.

Since 2018, students have carried out different investigations that support the importance of working on violence prevention issues from an early age in order to eradicate its impact in adults.

Currently, the project, already consolidated, is in charge of the University of Azuay in conjunction with the Center for Comprehensive Stimulation and Psychological and Therapeutic Support (CEIAP) and the La Asunción Educational Unit.

For this note, we spoke with one of the project coordinators, teacher María Fernanda Coello, who explained more about it:

What was the reason for publishing the Violence Prevention Guide?

We saw that it was of utmost importance to work on violence prevention issues to eradicate its impact when children are adults.

These guides focus on working in preschool with children, their parents, and teachers; at school with children and the teachers in charge, and at school with adolescents, teachers and student representatives, in order to raise awareness, not to normalize acts of violence that can be seen reflected in children from a very young age or in the environment school / academic.

It is in this area that violent actions, which are sometimes not only physical, are normalized, many of the times they begin in verbal violence or psychological attacks such as affecting self-esteem.

What is the Violence Prevention Guide about?

It focuses on how to live positively with the other, we are calling this population from a very young age to identify situations of violence, to educate themselves first and that it can be handled in time.

It is intended to educate in a didactic way within the classrooms, in addition to giving tools to teachers and letting children know from a very young age how they can handle these situations.

The guides are intended to identify the concepts of violence, the roles and to know what to do, to be able to speak it, but above all to manage and develop skills in children and adolescents that we believe we need today.

Is there an educational plan or project for this guide to be applied in local or national institutions?

Hopefully yes, we are in the second phase of the investigation that consists in the transfer of all these tools to the technological part, this entire guide was destined to be done live at the time that was finished, which was at the beginning of 2020, precisely because the pandemic the next phase of reaching more population was limited.

Now we have done in virtual format that it will go through a validation process to be able to share institutions. Currently CEIAP and Asunción are already using the guide; in Las Catalinas it is being validated.

The use that is being given is a preventive use in children and adolescents for training in social skills, that is, that they have the tools to solve problems, so that they do not get frustrated and know how to handle the situation.

How important is it to talk about these issues?

In the latest publications and research we have carried out, especially in adolescents and during this pandemic, there are many detonations of depression, of suicide attempts.

When we speak of violence or impulsivity, we speak that with this violence they increase with age, upon reaching adolescence this can trigger substance use, behavior problems, and in some cases suicide attempts.

Impulsiveness or aggressiveness not managed from an early age, begins to show as the person grows. This has become so necessary to work, because these behaviors detonate in adolescents, an example of this is that Azuay is considered the province with the highest suicide rate and suicide attempt in adolescents in 2020.

Prevention goes far beyond a talk, it is a long time to teach repeating, so that habits are generated, that parents understand, that teachers apply them.

UDA Correspondent