Our activities within the Educational-prevention Center include direct work with children and young people aimed at improving thair knowledge and developing skills of reacting to problem situations.

 

Key topics we adress are:

emotional literacy, empathy, emotional control, anger managemant, overcoming fear and anxiety, active listening, assertive communication, conflict resolution, bullying and digital violence, resisting peer pressure, discrimination, tolerance, use of alcohol and drugs, hooliganism, gambling, the use of the Internet, decision making, critical thinking, youth activism, self-control, non-violent communication, peer support, cooperation and teamwork.

Activities are carried out through several modalities that differ in terms of structure, dynamics and intensity.

 

1. Lectures and educational workshops

… are in the form of short interventions (in the form of one or more interactive lecture or workshop) that are organized for groups of 20 to 30 participants. We carry them out in primary and secondary schools (till now we have cooperated with more than 20 schools in Belgrade), boarding schools (we conducted activities in five units of Dorm for secondary school students – Belgrade), as well as within our Educational club for young people (we conducted weekly workshops for interested high school students in the premises of the organization).

 

2. Social skills training 

… includes highly interactive approach in small groups through a series of intensive workshops. We have created four trainings: School of Communication (16 hours in four days), School of Emotions (8 hours in two days), the School of Personal Growth (24 hours of work in six days) and the School of Imagination (10 hours). So far we have conducted six trainings of Schools of Communication and five trainings of School of Emotions (in the premises of the organization), as well as two trainings of School of Imagination in elementary school “Veselin Masleša”. The trainings were attended by more than 200 young people. A particular modality of training that we have developed is the Youth troop consisting of 20 high school students with whom we work on improving their knowledge and skills through a drama process. Structured workshops are based on the divising theater techniques and process drama, and are conducted twice a month throughout the year.

 

3. Prevention Program

… takes the form of an educational curriculum that we use in primary schools, with one whole class, once a week throughout the school year. Curriculum contains 12 topic, wherein each topic includes 4 units (focus group interview, an interactive thematic lecture and two workshops). For each teaching unit, we have created a complete working material (guides, scripts, manuals, workshop materials). The program has been implemented in more than 40 schools (the municipality of Zemun, Novi Beograd, Voždovac, Čukarica, Palilula), in cooperation with the Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation, and in the last two years we are implementing it independently.

 

4. Educational performances

… are structurally applied theater performances and involve the interaction of actors (the participants – children and young people) and the audience. So far, we have created five plays that address youth issues, namely: a drama-dance performance on personal identity development Mirror, a theater in education play – an educational play for elementary and high school students (dealing with peer violence and resisting peer pressure) Is that clear?!, a play Demolishing Prejudice (aimed at integrating young people from disadvantage groups into the community), an interactive theater play on youth problems and their views Crossroads and a theater play on the impact of Instagram Take a Look – Truth or Lie. All performances are original productions of CEPORA – Center for Positive Youth Development, and are based on personal stories of young people.