FAQs

1. Why violence in schools?

Violence in schools has a traumatic and extremely negative impact on children’s lives affecting one third of a billion children each year. Plan has a strong track record of working with schools in developing countries to improve education and reduce violence.

2. What are the aims of the campaign globally?

Learn Without Fear aims to stop violence against children in schools. The campaign has three key global priorities, which were agreed by a Plan-wide consultation with staff and children in the communities we work with. It aims to prevent:

• sexual violence against pupils
• bullying
• corporal punishment

Learn Without Fear also works towards the Millennium Development Goals of Education for All and gender equality.

3. Why only bullying, sexual violence and corporal punishment? What about knives and guns?

Hundreds of Plan staff working on education projects in developing countries identified bullying, sexual violence and corporal punishment as the types of violence most affecting the children they worked with. We therefore decided to focus on these issues. However, the campaign vision and goals are flexible enough to allow for national and local adaptations in order to fit the context of the community we are working in.

4. Is it really a global campaign?

Yes, although Plan’s frontline initiatives are limited to the 66 countries we operate in, we aim to create a global momentum for change. We will also work in partnership with UN agencies, NGOs and teacher unions to influence beyond our reach. In fact, we have had requests for help from several countries where we do not work such as Venezuela, Mexico and South Africa.

5. Won’t this campaign just make life harder for already overstretched teachers?

No. This campaign aims to make life easier, not harder, for teachers. We will work at many different levels to make this happen. Training and support will improve teachers’ skills where needed and provide confidence that enables them to manage often very large classes using positive discipline.We will also lobbying for additional resources that will help teachers by making schools a safe learning environment for all.

6. What is Plan going to do about the problem?

We work with communities and teachers to develop projects which reduce violence in schools in practical ways. In tandem we will advocate to improve laws and procedures at national, regional and global levels so that violence in schools in made illegal. We will work with lawyers so that they can better defend child victims of violence; with police so that they can prevent violence and protect children; and with other professionals such as health workers so that they can identify and respond in the right way to children who have been harmed.

7. Why is the campaign focused on the developing world?

While the damaging effects of violence in schools are not exclusive to developing countries, Plan’s mandate is to focus on improving the lives of children in developing countries. However, we are making all our resources available online as the campaign proceeds for use by individuals and organisations from all over the world.

8. How much will you be spending?

Plan spends almost $100m each year on education programmes in developing countries and child protection is central to our education programmes. Of this, $4million has already been spent specifically on the campaign, with remarkable results eg 27.5million children are now better protected by law in 3 countries; 300,000 children have taken part in the campaign; 8,000 teachers have been trained in positive discipline and almost 12,000 public sector workers such as police and social workers have been trained on violence in schools issues and awareness.

9. What is the impact of corporal punishment on children?

Corporal punishment inflicts physical and mental injuries on children. It makes some children too scared to attend school. And the evidence overwhelmingly shows that corporal punishment makes children more, not less violent. Furthermore, violence in schools (and in the home) creates a culture of violence that carries on into the next generation. For more information see our Corporal Punishment paper.

10. Isn’t bullying just a normal part of growing up?

In many places it is, but it shouldn’t be. Bullying has a devastating effect on the lives of victims leading to physical and mental injuries, alcoholism and, in extreme cases, suicide. For example, research in the United States found that 60% of bullies will have at least one criminal conviction by the age of 24. For more information, see our Bullying paper.

We shouldn’t forget that bullies often experienced acts of violence themselves. Addressing this issue in school can prevent future episodes change the acceptance of bullying as ‘normal’.

11. What more can governments do to enforce laws against violence in schools?

There are three key areas. Children need to be able to report violence safely and knowing that there will be no reprisals. Those allegations must be taken seriously by adults, whether teachers, police, health professionals or helpline staff. And the justice system must be willing to act to bring prosecutions against offenders.

12. What is the impact of sexual violence on boys and girls?

While more girls than boys are affected by sexual violence in and around schools – it does affect both boys and girls. In a similar way to corporal punishment it produces physical and mental afflictions, is a major cause of school drop out and can lead to self-harm and suicide. For details see our campaign launch report.

13. Why viral animation rather than another form of video?

A viral cartoon is a good way to engage children and also helps to focus the viewer on the issues, rather than on the actors. It is accessible to children, parents and teachers who can interact with it and share with people they know. Some teachers may want to use the animation as a way of introducing a difficult topic in class for pupils to discuss.

14. Why are the children in the cartoon white if the campaign is not focused on developed countries?

The children in the viral have been careful designed to be neutral in terms of colour to show this is a global issue, rather than affecting just one ethnicity.

As part of our work on the cartoon, the characters featured were shown to children in many different countries and they concluded that they didn’t mind what the figures looked like, because the message was very strong.

15. Why does the cartoon not broach the issue of sexual violence?

We concentrated on the two more common and more widely reported forms of violence in schools which affect children. The viral campaign focuses on these elements - corporal punishment and bullying to try to keep the initial message simple – to report incidents and not stay silent. While we would not in any way undermine the importance of this issue, trying to also include sexual violence would have made the messaging confusing. 

16. I am a teacher – this does not happen in my school. Why are you generalising?

Thankfully, this does not happen in every school, but unfortunately, globally, one third of a billion children are being affected by violence in schools each year.  Every child has the right to a safe school environment and this is why we have created a campaign that includes teachers as allies in our programme work.

17. This cartoon makes teachers look very unprofessional – why is Plan targeting teachers, when in fact is it pupils who hurt teachers?