FMD is a non-profit Foundation founded by the Municipality of Rome and 6 large ICT companies.

It works for an inclusive knowledge society by blending innovation, education, inclusion and fundamental values.

Its mission is to promote social learning, social innovation and e-inclusion, with special attention to categories at risk of social exclusion (elders, immigrants, students with special needs etc.)

FMD is based in Rome and implements its projects at local, national and international levels.

First major research project in Italy on Bullying 1997

Definition of bullying emerged:

"Offensive and/or aggressive behaviour (...) repeatedly over time, causing damage to another person with the purpose of exercising a power or dominion over the victim" (Fonzi, A.1997).

Diffusion of phenomena is greater in Italy than other countries•Widely distributed in schools of the country differences between provinces •Influence of Environmental factors•Gender and age differences: males direct bullying actions, hitting•Females indirect bullying main target female peers, with a prevalence of episodes of dissemination of false and bad information•Decrease with age

School predominant place where bullying takes place 67.9 % of total

Some Italian Data ( Telefono Azzurro2013-2014)Out of 3.333 cases bullying and cyber-bullying was reported in 14.6% of casesThe research conducted by "Osservatorio Adolescenti" on 1500 students between the ages of 11-19: 34.7% of students report having witnessed or experienced an act of bullying and 34.3% expressed the need of having more protection from the school against acts of violence or bullyingReactions:31.3 % no reactions29.9% try to defend themselves22.8 % talk to parents, 22.7 % don't tell anyone

Legislation

• No specific law about bullying in Italy. Regulations included in the Civil Code, Criminal Code and

the Constitution in particular Constitution Violation of equality ( article 1) and the right to education ( article 33 and 24)

• Focus on parents responsibility:"The father and mother or guardian is responsible for the

damage caused by the unlawful act of non-emancipated minor children or persons subject to the protection that live with them ( Civil Code: Article 2048 and exercise of parental responsibility Article 147)

Focus on School responsibility :

• Ministerial directive- 2007 Bullying has to be addressed by schools systematically directly involving students, sharing knowledge of the rules and the sanctions which lead to

• Activation of toll-free help-line form Monday to Friday access information and help in critical situations

• The decree of the President of the Republic n 249/ 1998 art.4 provides that schools adopt their own disciplinary rules providing sanction procedures. Removal of the student from the school community can only be initiated in case of serious or repeated breaches of discipline for periods up to 15 days apart from two cases: when crimes have been committed or when there is danger for safety of persons

Code of practice for the prevention and contrast to the phenomenon of cyber-bullying focuses ( approved 2014)

• Operators prompted to adhere to Code become members and commit to prevention strategies

• Availability and visibility of the reporting system on the platform

• Prompt removal of harmful content ( within 2 hours) and precautionary temporary obscuration

• Policies to trace identities

Importance of targeting psychological and social- contextual aspects

Bullying victims with or without aggression are reported to have parents in difficult partnerships, who have an inconsistent approach to discipline, poor monitoring procedures and lack of affection (Bowers et al. 1992, 1994; Lowenstein 1978).

Olweus distinguishes enhancing factors which promote bullying (e.g., hostile family context) and controlling factors which reduce bullying (e.g., application of rules/sanctions) (Olweus 2004). Differentiation of family, peer or school influences in victimization is needed for effective interventions where impacts last longer term.

Recent example of act of bullying in the Italian media: illustration of different actors involved

April 2015. A group of Italian students from Cuneo are on a school trip to Rome. During the night they gather in one of the bedrooms, they drink and one of them is particularly affected. The group initiates a series of acts such as undressing him, shaving him, drawing and sticking food on his body, simulating sexual acts while forcing him in a bath tub. The whole scene is filmed. The day after the victim is threatened in order to prevent him to report facts to the teachers. The film starts to circulate on the WhatsApp platform in the next days between other classes and becomes viral. When the head teacher is informed she decides to suspends the 14 people directly involved . The parents of the perpetrators react with condemning the schools decision to sanction and taking legal action against the school.

What emerges?

• The victim is one individual in vulnerable position. • Other students typical reactions:• those actively involved, herd instinct, like to follow others like on

Facebook• passive witnesses not involved but possibly watching video or other

material on Social platforms• students reporting the events and actively contrasting bullies • the parents cooperation is crucial some support the child, don't

recognize the wrongness of the act and don't accept the sanction Importance of teachers and head teachers reactions: importance of acknowledging the acts of bullying and carrying out sanctions but also the importance of PREVENTION

• Failure to cooperate can be counter-productive and worsen bullying.

State of the art of prevention of bullying in Italy

In Italy there is no official protocol involving specific professionals in schools ( i.e psychologists/ counsellors) since many schools still don’t have such professionals as part of the staff.

Examples of interventions:• “Genitori su internet”• “Progetto Playtech”

Genitori su internet:

The Parents on the Internet project is promoted in the contex of the Città educativa project managed by FMD

The activities proposed involved students, teachers, and families in a detailed learning process on the safe and responsible use of the new technologies and the web divided into four phases (Reflection, A teaching project, Workshops with experts, Meetings and Events). At the end of the process, the most creative families have been awarded the honorary title of Cyber Family.

Progetto Playtech

The project funded by “Telefono Azzurro” with the collaboration of Google involved 24 Italian high school classes. Students entered in a competition to create videos about bullying in schools and the students and parents reactions which were uploaded on Youtube on the Telefono Azzurro Chanel.