The Child Safety Department (CSD), a subsidiary of the Supreme Council for Family Affairsin Sharjah, hasorganised 12virtual workshops and online sessionstargeting 1,082 children, young adults, and parents during the UAE’s 4thNational Bullying Prevention Week.

The workshops, heldvirtually in cooperation with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) and the Ministry of Education (MoE), shed light on the negative impact of bullying on children and their future.

Members of the Cyber Safety Ambassadors initiative, which was launched by CSD last year to equip Sharjah’s children and youth with the skills and training required to guide their peers towards the best cyber safety practices, also took part in presenting the workshops.

Hanadi Saleh Al Yafei, Director of CSD, said: “Bullying is one of the most pervasive challenges that children encounter today, and the most dangerous type is cyberbullying, which takes place in the virtual world. Cyberbullying often goes unobserved by teachers and parents because ofthe overwhelming popularity of social media platforms among children.”

Al Yafei emphasised that CSD is furthering efforts to raise awareness on bullying, particularly cyberbullying, byhosting webinars, online panel discussions and virtual workshops that target children, young adults, parents, teachers, and school administrative staff.

Sixworkshops were held on cyberbullying for students at various private schools across the emirate aged 6-17 years, and another workshop was held for Al Hosn Nursery students, aged 4-5 years, conducted by Nahla Hamdan Al Saadi, Head of Programmes and Events at CSD.

Cyber Safety Ambassadors members Jamila Al Zaabi, Salama Al Tunaiji and Batool Al Tamimi presented four workshops targeting children and young adults in the age group 6-17 years, as well as parents. They educated their peers on the chief causes of bullying and how to tackle such acts while also stressing the importance of immediate reporting of any bullying incident to parents.

A panel discussion, presented by psychology experts Mohamed Ahmed and Eman Al Arabi and targeting parents, was organised by CSD at the Sharjah Centre for Learning Difficulty (SCLF).

Earlier in November, CSD had conducted two training workshops on bullying and workplace bullying, targeting 150 employees at Sharjah Children (SC), Sharjah Youth (SY) and Sajaya Young Ladies of Sharjah - threeaffiliates of the Rubu’ Qarn Foundation for Creating Leaders and Innovators.