Held by Pezhvak Omid Kodak: The School, a Hub for Preventing Harm to Children

At the start of the panel, Lotfollah Mohseni, psychologist and CEO of the Pezhvak Omid Kodak Institute, stressed the need to make the process of identifying and supporting children more effective. He described the school as one of the most important environments for observing the early signs of children's problems and needs.

school; An opportunity to see the child before reaching a crisis

Specialized panel "School; The frontline of prevention of children's social harms" centered on the role of social work in early identification and timely intervention, was held on October 16, 1405, at the same time as Children's Day, under the auspices of Pajhwok Omid Children's Institute. In this meeting, experts in psychology, social work and children's rights talked about the role of the school in early identification of children's problems and prevention of social harm.

It was also emphasized the importance of timely intervention, cooperation between different institutions and creating a coordinated network to support children.

In this panel, the speakers discussed the necessity of addressing children's problems before they become a crisis. They also emphasized on strengthening the supportive role of the school, family and community participation, and the cooperation of various institutions to support children. One of the key messages of this meeting was the need for all schools to have access to a specialized and continuous system to identify children's problems, assess conditions, provide necessary assistance and follow up on their condition.

It is not possible to identify the problems of children in the family

At the beginning of the panel, Lotfollah Mohseni, a psychologist and CEO of Pajhwok Omid Mozad Institute, emphasized the need to make the process of identifying and supporting children more effective, and considered the school to be one of the most important environments for observing the early signs of their problems and needs.

Mohseni pointed out that it is not always possible to identify children's problems in the family and sometimes the issues remain unknown until more advanced stages, emphasizing the importance of paying attention to the school environment and creating the possibility of supporting systems in this space. He also pointed to the institute's activities in the field of preventing academic failure, and the need to use the capacity of schools to identify children's needs in a timely manner and connect them with support services.

School capacity in preventing social harm

Dr. Vajihe Hamedi, the director of the Tehran Educational Psychologists Group, in a presentation entitled "The capacity of the school in preventing children's social harms", addressed the role of the school environment in early identification, creating a sense of belonging and strengthening protective factors.

Referring to the constant presence of children in school and their daily interaction with teachers and other members of the educational staff, Hamidi described the school as an important space for observing the condition of children and recognizing their behavioral, emotional and social changes. According to him, school can become an effective platform for prevention when the student feels belonging, respect, acceptance, individuality and security, and has the opportunity to develop talents and experience healthy relationships.

He also emphasized the importance of the role of the peer group in the formation of children's attitudes and behaviors and explained that friendships and social learning can become an opportunity to strengthen positive behaviors and prevent harm if guided purposefully. Purposeful use of the game, teaching life skills and providing opportunities for participation and responsibility for students, were other capacities that were considered in this presentation.

One of the important axes of this section was the need to change the focus from mere intervention in crisis situations to pre-crisis prevention. Referring to the existence of mechanisms such as screening, short-term counseling and referral in critical situations, Hamedi pointed out that healthy or at-risk students also need preventive intervention.

school-oriented social work; From identifying the risk to completing the support chain

The next part of the meeting was presented by Dr. Masoumeh Maarifvand, a member of the faculty of the University of Rehabilitation Sciences and Social Health, social worker and researcher, entitled "School-oriented social work; From identifying the risk to completing the support chain.

Explaining the need to pay attention to the all-round development of children, Ma'arifvand explained that the student's academic performance and status cannot be examined separately from his mental, physical, social and family conditions. From this point of view, school-based social work seeks to identify the child's issues in relation to the different environments of his life and instead of focusing only on the individual, consider the risk factors and protective factors in the family, school and community.

He introduced one of the important approaches in this field, the system of multi-level interventions; A model based on which child support is not limited to individual interventions and crisis response, but preventive and supportive measures are designed and implemented at different levels.

Maarifvand emphasized that focusing only on the student and ignoring his life conditions limits the effectiveness of interventions. For example, family circumstances, violence, drug use in the living environment, bullying at school and the lack of positive opportunities for student participation can affect the child's situation and should be considered in the design of support.

He also emphasized the necessity of using the capacity of the community and institutions outside the school and reminded that all interventions should not necessarily be implemented in the school environment. In some cases, contact with specialized services, family-oriented support or use of social facilities can be more effective and appropriate.

the necessity of the child protection network; From interdepartmental cooperation to collective responsibility

Dr. Mohammad Barani, member of the affiliated faculty of Amin University of Police Sciences, child rights lecturer and facilitator, in a presentation entitled "School, family and child protection system; From inter-sectoral cooperation to an effective support network", he addressed the necessity of forming a coordinated and sustainable network to support children.

Barani considered the complexity of children's needs as one of the main reasons for the necessity of creating a support network and explained that the child is growing in physical, mental, cognitive, emotional and social dimensions, and for this reason, his issues cannot be examined with a limited and one-sided view. Effective child support requires simultaneous attention to his diverse needs and coordination between people who are involved in different environments of the child's life.

Referring to the position of inter-sectoral cooperation in international documents and approaches in the field of children's rights, he considered one of the important challenges to be the dispersion of actions and weak coordination between responsible institutions. According to Barani, many people and organizations may work with the aim of supporting children, but in the absence of a common road map and coordinated mechanism, their actions will not become an effective and continuous network. In such a situation, the possibility of dissociation of the process of support and transfer of responsibility between institutions increases.

Barani understood the concept of network beyond the coming together of several organizations and described it as based on social wisdom, collective ability, flexibility and shared responsibility. In this view, the network should be able to predict and identify the risks facing the child, evaluate his situation, determine the path of support and continue the necessary follow-up until the result is achieved.

He also emphasized that any support network should be based on the four fundamental principles of children's rights; The best interests of the child, the prohibition of discrimination, the right to survival and development, and the right to be heard and participate. Based on this, the support network can be effective when its decisions and actions are formed based on the rights and needs of the child, not only based on the administrative structure or the limits of responsibility of the organizations.

While emphasizing the necessity of effective implementation of legal responsibilities, Barani also considered the capacity of voluntary and social networks to be important; Networks that can strengthen the bond between school, family, professionals and society by relying on empathy, thoughtfulness and spontaneous participation. From this point of view, the child protection network is not just a set of referrals and guidelines, but a mechanism for real and continuous cooperation in the path of child protection.

final conversation; From problem solving to practical solutions

After the specialized presentations, a joint discussion session was held with the presence of the speakers, so that the raised issues could be placed next to each other and the possibility of moving from the identification of issues to practical solutions would be investigated.

In this section, the necessity of schools' access to social work services, the limitation of human resources, the existing capacities in education and the possibility of cooperation with external institutions were discussed. Also, the plan of the students' social care system (Symbol) was proposed as one of the related mechanisms and the need to strengthen its preventive aspect was emphasized.

Among the points of interest in this conversation was the need to move from an approach that is mainly activated after a crisis occurs. Participants emphasized the importance of early identification, teamwork, cross-departmental communication and the use of capacities outside the school; Capacities that can complete the path of supporting students along with the educational system.

The summary of the discussions of this panel was based on the need to change the view from mere intervention in crisis to systematic and multi-level prevention. Based on the topics discussed, the school can play an effective role in preventing social harm when, in addition to its educational and training capacities, it has access to specialized services, clear referral and follow-up paths, and a coordinated network of support.