The project, led by the 5A and 5B classes of the “E. Salgari” primary school in San Martino Buon Albergo, Verona province, has its roots in a very significant meeting between the students and Prof. Fabio Caon, co-author with the judge Gherardo Colombo of the book “Chi è Stato? Come diventare cittadini responsabili” ("Who Did It? How to Become Responsible Citizens").
From this experience, the teachers, along with the boys and girls, decided to tackle the problem of cyberbullying through their Service Learning project, addressing an issue to which they are increasingly and prematurely exposed. The service carried out by the students of the two classes materialized into an awareness campaign aimed at their peers and the wider community. This included a conference for fourth-grade students and a community outreach where they involved many local shops to display their cyberbullying guide, the result of various engaging classroom activities.
The teachers accompanying them were very satisfied: “The project helped work on relational skills through teaching methodologies like Circle Time, Cooperative Learning, and Role Play,” says the teacher Silvia Dalli Cani. “The students managed to build and combine their ideas to plan a speech, a skit on cyberbullying, posters, and useful materials for the presentation.” Many key citizenship competences were developed. “Going beyond the classroom,” the teacher continues, “gave the students the opportunity to experience civic engagement and feel more responsible towards others and the community. The children were eager to explain and spread the rules in their Guide because these would then be seen and consequently help a larger number of people, including many young people. Posting the flyers in the shops and the request from the Middle School teachers to put up the flyers along their corridors and on the school bulletin board made them proud.”
