CyberKind: Empowering school communities through SEL education against cyberbullying

forthcoming

Among the various categories of risks and harms that young people experience in their use of digital technologies, cyberbullying remains one of the most persistent and insidious. As reported by UNICEF and noted in the BIK+ strategy, more than a third of young people globally have reported being a victim of cyberbullying with some reporting intense harm because of it. Despite the many initiatives in place addressing this challenge, cyberbullying remains the most reported topic to European Safer Internet Centre helplines in the last decade. In line with this, tackling cyberbullying has been identified as a priority in the 2024–2029 Political Guidelines of the European Commission with the effort to launch an Action Plan against cyberbullying. In this respect, formal and non-formal education settings often find themselves on the front lines of responding to and managing disclosures of cyberbullying involving youth. Most education settings have policies and procedures for tackling cyberbullying, but these often focus on responding to incidents when they occur as opposed to preventative measures. In some cases, teachers are unsure or unaware of the available tools and approaches to help resolve these issues effectively. In response to the ERASMUS-EDU-2025-PCOOP-ENGO call for proposals the CyberKind project will address emerging concerns around cyberbullying, based on young people’s everyday perceptions, challenges and needs, while making a specific connection with the role and responsibility of schools and formal education, and the wider school community, as a key context for tackling cyberbullying and promoting mental health and well-being. The CyberKind project aims at a whole school approach to combat cyberbullying by investing in Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) practices; providing education resources to foster active youth participation, peer-to-peer exchanges and supporting materials that also encourage the benefits of school and helpline cooperation.