Support “Be a Man” program for schools!

June 2, 2015 Regional and International

For seven years Centre E8 has been implementing the project “Be a Man” in Serbia and profiling itself as an organization that works on violence prevention and promotion of gender equality among young men in high schools but also in the education of teaching staff.

Our program is accredited by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development for the education of teaching staff in the field of violence prevention, healthy lifestyles and gender based violence. That is why we were contacted by more than 45 high schools throughout Serbia who wanted to join the training program in these topics because they recognized the importance of our work.

So we decided to launch the “Be a Man” program for schools and to raise money for as many schools in Serbia as possible with the help of citizens and socially responsible companies!

Companies Telenor, Telekom and VIP supported our program and by sending a text message to a number 8290 you directly support the implementation of the “Be a Man” program in schools!

Program M will be implemented in high schools, enabling us to achieve a high level of participation in the program by young men aged between 14 and 18. The focus on youth is important because adolescence is a key moment in the process of socialization when attitudes and behavior are still being developed. Young men should not be regarded as obstacles to peace and gender equality, but as key allies in the promotion of non-violent, healthy relationships and communities!

The basis of the Program M is series of group educational workshops where young men are educated about all forms of violence, prevention of peer violence and violence against women, as well as about gender equality and healthy lifestyles.

What does the “Program M” in secondary schools include? Program M is a process of education of students and teaching staff on the topics of violence prevention and gender-based violence, as well as healthy lifestyles.

For each school in which the Program M would be implemented we need 360,000 dinars.

During the program, a team of the Centre E8 will realize the following:

• We will conduct a survey on a sample of 50% of students from the second and third grade of high school;
• We will organize information sessions for school staff on the results of research and the inclusion of teachers in the future work with students in the Program M as well as a two-day training for school personnel of the Centre E8, which is accredited by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development.
• We will organize trainings for peer educators who will after that hold workshops to their peers in schools;
• After the sessions, lectures and trainings, we will form the “Be a Man” club that will carry out public actions aimed at further spreading of our messages and values ​​of non-violence, gender equality and healthy lifestyles!
• Also, we will form the “Forum”, which will be composed of representatives of institutions and organizations from the local community with the aim of providing various forms of support to the realization of the program and the involvement of local communities in the prevention of violence.

BONUS: As a bonus to the whole action we will conduct a program of creative workshops of the Centre E8 for students. Those can be video workshops, music workshops, photography workshops, and theater workshops. Participants apply their newly acquired skills and through creative products of workshops (such as movies, photos, and songs) they promote our messages and values.

What does the school and local community get in return from the Program M?

• 24 trained peer educators
• Education of students of the 2nd and 3rd grade of high school which is, depending on the size of school, often more than 200 students.
• Established “Be a Man” club at the school, which will have more than 20 members representing the “ambassadors” of our “Be a Man” campaign, i.e. “ambassadors” of the fight against violence.
• School personnel will attend training “Program M: training on violence prevention”, which is accredited by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia and for it they will get the necessary points for up-education
• Establishment of the “Forum” whose members will be representatives of institutions (centers for social work, hospitals, police stations, the youth counseling centers, etc.) and organizations (local NGOs, sports clubs, etc.), thus creating a common initiatives and community cohesion in the fight against peer violence.