SCHOOL IN WHICH THERE IS NO BULLYING

14. June 2018.

Medvedja – The “Sijarinska Spa” elementary school that is located in the place of the same name, which is situated in the municipality of Medvedja, is a true example of a multi-ethnic environment, because children attending the school select their school friends on the basis of their common preferences, regardless of their nationality and religious affiliation.

The school, which was founded almost 120 years ago, was once attended by as many as 600 students. However, today, the school, including its satellite classes, has a total of 66 students of the Albanian, Roma and Serbian nationalities.

With the exception of their nationalities, everything else is mutual for the school students, because they share the staff-room, the classrooms, the desks, the chalk, the school boards, the school garden, the playground and even their small school problems.

Sinisa Stankovic, the school principal, said that the small number of children attending the school was a disadvantage, but also a big advantage, because they know every child as if they were their own, they know from what families they come and their characters, they follow their conduct and may find out what kinds of violence and conflicts they are inclined to.

„ They firstly talk to the school guidance counselor, while the next step is a warning or a threat that they will be transferred to another school, which they do not like, because they do not want to leave this school. The Albanians then give their "besa," which is for them a firm commitment that must not be broken, while the Serbs give their word of honor, " school principal Stankovic said.

Thanks to the donation of the US Embassy in Serbia, students of this school go to the multi-ethnic camp every year, where the school principal and teachers spend 24 hours per day with the students, which gives them the opportunity to get to know every child much better.

The students of this school recently collected the money necessary for purchasing a basket attached to the backboard in Ravna Spa, where their school friends, the Serbs, Albanians and Roma, will daily play basketball in the same team and for companionship.

Source: Jugmedia and Coordination Body