One of the activities we organized at Petar Leković Primary School within the Fit to Belong project was a peer workshop. Older students taught younger ones about internet safety and cyberbullying.
The aims of this activity were to increase students' awareness of the importance of safety and responsible behavior on the Internet; to introduce them to the forms and possible consequences of cyberbullying; to increase weaker students' self-confidence and self-esteem by putting them in the role of educators of their peers.
Older students (8th grade) organized workshops for younger students (5th and 6th grade). Workshops consist of lectures (presentations), discussions, exchanges of experiences, and Kahoot quizzes. Workshops are carried out by students who have lower achievements in formal education and less often participate in extracurricular activities, so they often feel neglected and less valuable. This workshop is an opportunity for them to participate more actively in school life and show their abilities.
All participants were very motivated. The student educators were responsible and took the task seriously. Younger students found it interesting to learn from older friends, especially about this topic. They actively participated in the discussion, asked questions, and described their experiences. It turns out that students take advice on behavior on the Internet more seriously when it comes from their peers than from adults.
