President launches campaign to eliminate abuse of school-age youth
Slogan is part of a national campaign to eliminate verbal and physical abuse of school-age youth.
By GREER FAY CASHMANPresident Reuven Rivlln at the center of this photograph with Pop star Noa Kirel on his right side. Other teen-celebs include singer Agam Buhbut, second to his left, and actor Tal Mousseri known for his productions for children on the second row with the blue jacket(photo credit: AMOS BEN-GERSHOM/GPO)
Whatever their differences, all political parties can find common ground in a new national slogan that emanated from the President’s Residence on Sunday.The slogan, “Don’t stand on the sidelines,” is part of a nationwide campaign conducted in conjunction with the President’s Residence and the Education and Public Security ministries with the aim of eliminating verbal and physical abuse of school-age youth.Name calling, public ridicule, boycotting and physical violence have all been par for the course in the classroom and the schoolyard. But since the advent of the Internet, the situation has become much more worrying.Humiliation has become much more public than it ever was before, not only in the verbal sense but with the use of graphic photographs.Such disclosures have led to a spike in suicides or attempted suicides among teenage youth.This newest initiative by President Reuven Rivlin is in line with his previous initiatives to mend the rifts in society by integrating people with disabilities; accepting members of the LGBT community; uniting the country’s different “tribes”; and promoting closer relations between Israel and the Diaspora.To get the message across, Rivlin invited heads of youth organizations from around the country to the President’s Residence, where he told them a story about a boy who sometimes woke up with pain in his heart because he didn’t want to go to school, where he knew he would either be shunned, ridiculed or cursed. He had been excluded from his peers’ WhatsApp group, and even his best friend had informed him that he no longer wanted anything to do with him.Aware that most children experience at least one of these cruelties during their years at school, Rivlin urged all children not to stand on the sidelines, but to intervene, by trying to stop the process or at least taking the side of the victim and assuring the hapless youngster that he or she has a friend.He also said anyone who witnesses the bullying of a classmate, whether in the classroom or on social media, should report it to the teacher. Verbal abuse kills a child’s dreams and hopes, he said.Rivlin made it clear youngsters are not the only victims.He himself receives masses of hate mail via social media from people who disagree with something he has said or done. He is capable of dealing with it, but youngsters do not always have that capacity, he noted.Pop star Noa Kirel, who took time out from her army service to co-chair the event, declared that “words have power and you have to use them carefully.Education Ministry director-general Shmuel Abuav, like Rivlin, saw the negative impact of the Internet as “one of the great challenges of our times.” Children spend from four to six hours per day on the Internet, he said. There would be nothing wrong with this if they were not exposed to the evils of the Internet, such as pornography, he stated. “The Internet can be both beneficial and detrimental.”Abuav was concerned that naïve and innocent children may see something they don’t really understand, and just think it’s funny, whereas adults would realize that it’s dangerous.As for bullying and humiliation, a survey taken in elementary schools indicated that 10% of children suffer bullying and humiliation from classmates, Abuav said. He said parents shouldn’t feel guilty about checking what their kids are watching, but that they and teachers should explain why certain things should not be watched.In February 2018, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan created Network 105, a national online protection bureau designed to prevent violence and to protect the country’s youth 24/7, the ministry’s director-general, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Moshe Chico Edri, said at the event. The network is operated by volunteer experts in computers and psychology, who over the past two years have dealt with 12,000 incidents largely related to pedophilia and violence.People involved in the initiative will be working closely with television channels that feature programs for children and youth.
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