“Secondary prevention program focused on the identification and protection of children from risk factors in primary schools in Una-Sana Canton”
Employees of the professional service of the elementary school “Fra Lovro Karaula” from Livno through their many years of work have encountered various forms of unacceptable behavior by students, and reacted to them and acted in accordance with the regulations of the time.
The program of secondary prevention, the implementation of which has been launched in all primary schools in Canton 10 since August 2020, has opened new opportunities for action and work with students at risk and based on previous experiences, and achieved excellent results.
During the trainings within the Secondary Prevention Program, a case occurred at the school that required urgent and better organized intervention. It was decided to apply the knowledge acquired so far and to help the 5th grade student, who had extremely violent behavior, without sanctions and pressure.
“A 5th grade student showed strong outbursts of anger with minimal stimuli and consumed cigarettes. The low threshold of tolerance for frustration and verbal conflicts with other students culminated in the fact that the student tried to jump off the railing from the school stairs – climbed to the edge of the railing during a break, and shouted that he was going to kill himself! Concerns about his emotional state were real! The teacher reported this to the professional service of the school and asked for urgent intervention and help to the student and the family“, says Dona Hrga, pedagogue of the elementary school “Fra Lovro Karaula”. In addition, adds Hrga, the student had specific learning difficulties and was involved in special education treatment, but did not attend it regularly.
The situation in the family was also specific, considering that the student is raised by his grandparents, his father died, and his mother was often absent due to work. That is why, according to the pedagogue, the grandmother was invited to the first meeting, along with the mother, the teacher and the student were present, along with the professional service. This was the first time that the teacher met and talked to her mother.
The family was clearly indicated that the problem was complex and specific, and the way of functioning and application of the Secondary Prevention Program was explained. With the consent of the grandmother and mother, the IPP was developed, with the aim of combating risky behavior and developing work habits. All participants defined goals and activities, and a time limit of three months was set.
“A special education teacher also joined the implementation of the IPP, whose goal was to provide professional assistance to the student in learning and adapting the program to his abilities, but in continuity. Also, one important task we set ourselves was the testing of students by psychologists at the Social Work Center in order to determine the appropriate form of education,” said pedagogue Hrga.
The communication and cooperation of family members with the professional service of the school and the teacher was extremely good. The boy was visibly interested so that excellent results were obtained within the given deadline.
The boy soon began to change his behavior. He no longer reacted violently to teasing from other students, nor did he have verbal conflicts, but would report such situations to the teacher.
It is very important that, thanks to this approach and the Secondary Prevention Program, relationships in the family became more honest and open, which was one of the goals.
According to pedagogue Hrga, it was easier for the boy to talk to his family members about his omissions, mistakes and problems. The cooperation between the family and the school has improved – the mother came every month for information and was interested in the boy’s behavior and success in school, and the grandmother was especially happy.
“The grandmother was grateful to the professional team of the school because “her daughter started coming back”, and also because we helped the student to understand the teaching material”.
Most important of all is the fact that the student became emotionally more stable, and he was especially happy because his mother was present. He also stopped smoking, and his mother and grandmother say that they check regularly.
In the Elementary school “Fra Lovro Karaula” there is a noticeable increase in the number of students with unacceptable forms of behavior, which requires strengthening the school with new capacities of the professional service, so that, with the application of the Secondary Prevention Program, to respond to these increasing needs.
“Thanks to the Secondary Prevention Program, we have achieved greater involvement of all important factors in the upbringing and education of the child/student. We avoided the situation that only the pedagogue should deal with such problems at school and that it is enough to report the problem to the pedagogue. There is a noticeable division of responsibilities, which is certainly facilitating for the professional service of the school,” says the pedagogue.
It is especially commendable, adds Hrga, that the schools received a Handbook in which the school staff can find very useful tools, ideas and techniques for working with children at risk and their parents, so she believes that the next individual support plans will achieve good results as was done in the case of the student in previously mentioned story.
The activities of the Secondary Prevention Program are aimed at the student to adopt effective individual and socially acceptable behaviors by developing the skills necessary for comprehensive growth and development, and caring for themselves, others and/or the environment. The secondary prevention program assumes early identification of indicators that may put a child at risk of becoming a perpetrator or victim of various forms of violence, as well as abuse or neglect. Practice and theory indicate the need for timely intervention, from the first grade of primary school. The tendency of this program is to emphasize the provision of adequate support to the child and the family instead of imposing sanctions, as was previously common in the traditional school approach. Namely, the goal is to investigate the cause of inappropriate behavior, and work on its reduction or elimination, as well as on strengthening the protective factors or resources that exist in the child’s environment.
On the other hand, the program, through a set of education and overall support for implementation, enables the empowerment of teachers and professional services of schools to identify risk factors and provide support to children.
The program of secondary prevention in schools of Canton 10 and Una-Sana Canton is implemented by the humanitarian organization “Genesis Project”, as a partner of UNICEF Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project is funded by the Swedish government.
