The charitable foundation “Your Support” continues its advocacy campaign “It's NOT just” and is implementing a series of activities aimed at raising awareness of violence against children. One such activity was the training “Emotional Competence of a Teacher as a Tool to Counter Bullying,” conducted for teachers of Bucha Lyceum No. 3.

The training was led by Nadiia Onyshchuk, a psychologist who works with emotional regulation and interaction in educational environments.
During the session, participants paid particular attention to challenging child behavior and practical ways to respond without escalation. The training also covered how to recognize bullying, not ignore it, and act appropriately when violence is identified. An important part of the discussion focused on teachers’ emotional stability—especially in situations that feel out of control.

In addition, the training addressed different forms of school bullying. In particular, it covered physical bullying, which may manifest through pushing, hitting, kicking, beating, spitting, tripping, causing bodily harm, theft, or damage to property. Participants also explored psychological bullying—violence affecting mental well-being through verbal abuse, threats, mockery, teasing, harassment, and intimidation. Special attention was given to online violence or cyberbullying, which occurs remotely via electronic communication tools, including social media and messaging apps.

The training also included discussion on how to identify a child who may be a victim of bullying. Warning signs include physical weakness compared to peers, low self-confidence, withdrawal, silence, a sudden decline in academic performance, avoidance of certain places at school, and difficulties communicating with peers.
A separate block focused on signs that may indicate aggressive behavior, such as a tendency toward defiant and aggressive interaction with children and adults, a desire to dominate, a need to stand out demonstratively, and other behavioral characteristics that require careful attention from educators.

Participants also examined the consequences of bullying for a child. These include decreased self-esteem, insecurity, sleep and appetite disorders, chronic headaches, anxiety, depression, fear of communication, isolation, loneliness, and even suicidal thoughts. Such manifestations highlight that bullying is not “just a conflict” or “just a joke,” but a serious issue with long-term effects on a child’s mental health and safety.

The training format included not only theoretical input but also practical work. Participants analyzed real-life cases and jointly developed solutions that can be applied in the educational process as early as the next day.

“Bullying is not a set of isolated incidents, but a systemic phenomenon that affects children’s safety, their emotional well-being, and their ability to learn. That is why it is important to work not only with the consequences but also with the root causes—particularly through developing teachers’ emotional competence. Trainings like this are especially relevant now, as they provide not only additional knowledge but also real tools that help transform the classroom environment starting today,” says Nadiia Onyshchuk.

The advocacy campaign “It's NOT just,” implemented by the “Your Support” Foundation, aims to draw attention to violence against children, their safety, and their right to respect. The campaign was launched as a strategic step to address this sensitive and painful issue openly and systematically.

The campaign emphasizes that society too often downplays violence with phrases like “it’s just a joke,” “it’s just a photo,” or “it’s just a comment.” Instead, the campaign stresses: it is not just. These are manifestations of bullying, violence, and unfair treatment that can have lasting consequences for a child.

The goal of the campaign is to bring the issue of violence against adolescents into the public sphere, demonstrate its масштаби (scale), and develop practical solutions to improve response systems, accountability, and, most importantly, attitudes toward violence.

The advocacy campaign “It's NOT just” was created by the “Your Support” Foundation with the support of the Askold and Dir Foundation, administered by ISAR Ednannia, within the project “Advocacy Campaign ‘Shelter from Violence’: Countering Violence Against Children in Wartime,” funded by Norway and Sweden.