3.4 Intervention techniques for teachers

As far as the bullying and cyberbullying prevention is concerned, it is necessary to reflect on the fact that it is not strictly necessary to propose so-called 'special' activities (i.e. courses that can be carried out once and for a limited period of time); in fact, there are curricular activities and teaching strategies habitually adopted by teachers that make it possible to achieve not only cognitive but also educational objectives, since, due to the way they are carried out, they foster the maturation of positive relational styles and pro-social skills in children.

Therefore, such activities are the preferred prevention tool because:

- involve the whole class (or children from different classes) at the same time.
- can be provided with some continuity during the school year.

These activities are designed to involve the whole class in the prevention intervention with a special focus on the targets and with the intention of raising awareness among those potentially positive but often indifferent and apathetic towards the fate of weaker classmates, i.e. pupils who are not directly involved in bullying episodes in the role of target or CYP engaged in bullying behaviour, but who act alongside the CYP engaged in bullying behaviour as passive supporters or indifferent observers. In fact, alongside the two main 'actors' in bullying there are individuals who are not directly involved but whose attitude of indifference encourages the perpetration of the phenomenon: these are the so-called outsiders, i.e., the 'silent majority' who, while not approving bullying behaviour tolerate it and do not intervene in defence of the target for fear of reprisals or to preserve their peace of mind.
The aim is to propose activities that value peers as 'agents of change' by leveraging the positive resources of the class and the natural ability of children to feel empathy for peers in difficulty.