The Child Safety Department (CSD) in Sharjah, an affiliate of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA), is helping raise awareness of the crucial issue of bullying through a series of interactive workshops at the ongoing 13th Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF) at Expo Centre Sharjah.

To fulfil its mission of ensuring the psychological and physical wellbeing of children and upholding their right to protection from harm, CSD’s workshops at SCRF 2022 are imparting effective strategies aimed at preventing instances of bullying and offering constructive approaches in responding to the situation through positive thinking, empathy and self-composure.

Led by social worker Takia Yahya Ahmed and targeting students from grades three through seven, the workshops are held in partnership with the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children.

Three pillars
The first workshop, held on May 12, provided an effective three-pronged strategy to deal with incidents of bullying. The first pillar in this strategy is to pause and consider the motives and causes behind bullying before reacting to an attack. The second pillar encourages the practice of empathy and participants were asked to be mindful of each other’s feelings, whether they are the victim or the bully. The final pillar, noted Takia Ahmed, is to remain calm and composed when confronted by a bully, in order to respond in an appropriate manner.