Many people on the streets of Dakar wanted to talk about violence in schools

27th November 2009: Plan spent a day on the streets of Dakar using 'moving boards' to raise awareness about violence in schools as part of its global campaign 'Learn Without Fear'. 

Starting at the Place de l’Indépendence at 0800, Plan staff and the moving board men spent the morning talking to people about the negative impact of violence in the school environment and encouraging them to ‘break the silence’ and speak out against it. 

Violence in schools in Senegal and across the globe continues to be a very real problem and a daily reality for many children, but Plan’s ‘Learn Without Fear’ campaign aims to put an end to all forms of violence in schools.

Throughout the day, many people were drawn towards the images on the boards and were keen to discuss the topic at hand.  

After moving through Dakar’s town centre, bustling Sandaga market and crowded side streets, the team moved to the suburbs, where people stopped and talked for even longer, discussing the negative impact of violence in school. 

"Violence makes children stop working"

Paul, from the Niarry Tally suburb, said “When we did dictations, for every mistake you made you were hit.   

“I must admit, it’s because of this that I left school, and I really want it to stop – violence makes children stop working just because they’re afraid.” 

Many people told similar stories, expressing the need to end violence in schools. Sokhna, a mother from the HLM 4 suburb, had this to say:

“My son wears several layers of clothes so that when he’s hit it doesn’t hurt too much. You can definitely count on me to pass your message on to his teacher.”

They also talked about cases of violence at school that they had heard of, and most importantly were told how they could go about reporting it. People were grateful for the opportunity for discussion and wanted to know more.

Plan booklets, CDs and magazines were handed out so that people could read up on all the different types of violence, including corporal punishment, sexual violence, bullying and how to better protect their children in the school environment.