Russia's invasion of Ukraine evokes a wide variety of feelings in us. This is a fertile ground for bullying, racism or for hate speech, which has already begun to increase before.

In early childhood education and care (ECEC), schools and educational institutions (hereinafter: school), it is important to monitor closely the safety and well-being of those children, pupils and students who have a Ukrainian or Russian background or who themselves or whose family or friends have earlier traumatic experiences of war and violence. It is the responsibility of adults both at school and at home to safeguard a safe growth and learning environment to every child, young person, pupil and student.

The right to life, personal liberty and integrity is a constitutional right. Bullying, racism, discrimination and hate speech are phenomena that violate this fundamental right and cause many negative and long-term consequences to the development of children and young people.

Under the Act on early childhood education and care, the ECEC environment must be safe having regard to the children’s age, development and other abilities. The children shall be protected from violence, bullying and other harassment. Under the Basic education act, the Act on general upper secondary education and the Act on vocational education and training, pupils or students have the right to a safe learning environment.

The Non-discrimination act prohibits discrimination on the basis of characteristics such as origin, nationality, language, religion, belief, opinion or family relationships. Harassment and an instruction or order to discriminate are also considered discrimination.

The Non-discrimination act applies to all public and private activities. However, it does not apply to activities pertaining to private or family life or the practising of religion.
 

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Recently, the media has been full of news about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There is an enormous humanitarian catastrophe taking place in Ukraine, and Russia's operations cause anxiety and fear in us. Many find their sense of safety shaken. We do not always have words for all the feelings and sometimes it is not easy to express difficult feelings such as fear, shame, guilt or anger even if we identify our feelings.

All of us, also children and young people, adapt to crisis situations in individual ways and our capability to face them is different depending on factors such as our age or earlier traumatic experiences. However, the most important thing is the support provided by the people close to us.

Important adults always set an example to children and young people. Adults’ calm behaviour and attitude even to difficult matters is important at school and home alike. It is important for the child or young person to get support for facing their feelings in the environment where they develop and to feel that their needs and how they feel are understood. It is also the responsibility of adults to ensure that their own child or young person, pupil or student does not treat people with a different background inappropriately or in a discriminatory manner.
 

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Every member of an ECEC, school or educational institution community must be able to identify bullying and its different forms and be familiar with the community’s ways of intervening in situations in which bullying takes place. The best way to work against bullying is to prevent it in advance.

Early identification and effective intervention in situations in which bullying occurs prevent the often severe psychosocial impacts of bullying on children and young people. Creating a safe learning environment is a joint task that belongs to every adult in the ECEC, school or educational institution community. Under the law, each school and educational institution must have a plan for protecting the pupils and students from violence, bullying and harassment.
 

Finnish National Agency for Education's guide to work against bullying

The Finnish National Agency for Education has published a guide to support the work of schools and educational institutions against bullying. The guide describes the work against bullying from the perspectives of preventing it and intervening in it. The guide also explains the key legislation and the regulations concerning the national core curricula. The bullying taking place online is described as an entity of its own.

The guide contains practical instructions for education providers, headteachers, teachers, personnel of student welfare services, students and guardians. It is aimed primarily at supporting the work of schools in basic education and educational institutions at upper secondary level. 

The Finnish National Agency for Education has drawn up introductory material (PPT) for schools and educational institutions, for example, for teachers to be used for introducing the topic.

We have prepared house rules for pupils and guardians to support them in acting when bullying occurs. The house rules have also been translated into several foreign languages, and language versions in Russian and English are also available.
 

House rules for pupils to support them in acting when bullying occurs

The house rules have also been translated into several foreign languages, and language versions in Russian and English are also available.
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Hate speech and discrimination are not tolerated at school and they are intervened in immediately. Hate speech spreads, incites, promotes or justifies hate based on intolerance. For example, it may be related to national or ethnic origin, religion or belief. However, all angry speech, conflicts, arguments and criticism are not the same as hate speech.

Hate speech generates fear and narrows diverse democratic debate. Hate speech limits right of its target to be heard and seen as themselves. It aims to give a stereotypical and degrading impression of its target and threats their dignity and human rights. Hate speech may also be a punishable offence.

It is important to talk about hate speech at school and intervene in it with a low threshold. School and home are responsible for protecting children and young people from becoming victims of hate speech or being blamed for the crisis in Ukraine. It is equally important to ensure that hate speech will not become a part of children’s and young people’s communication.

Hate speech and polarisation rely on emotions. Although correct information and facts are important, logical arguments and facts do not have a strong influence on hate speech. An important part of anti-discrimination pedagogy is the development of empathy. Empathy comprises the ability to see the world from the point of view of another person, the ability to identify one’s own and another person's feelings and name them, and the ability to not condemn another person's thoughts offhand.
 

Preventing hate speech

Hate speech and discrimination are prevented by discussing the matter, by enhancing education on human rights and equality and by building media literacy. The school’s task is to ensure equal implementation of everyone’s rights and non-discrimination. For this purpose, schools have an operational non-discrimination plan. 

School must be a safe place where difficult topics can also be talked about. Identity speech, or seeing people as representatives of groups, is avoided in a constructive discussion. The best way to dismantle confrontations is to direct the attention away from them to some kind of shared objective or activity. Building a sense of community is also important from the point of view of preventing hate speech and discrimination.

Dialogue and emotional skills play a key role in learning to communicate about one’s feelings and difficult topics in a way that is respectful of others. Background information on them and exercises are available in the material produced by the Finnish National Agency for Education.
 

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During the war in Ukraine, schools’ key tasks include maintaining their normal activities, their continuity, and everyday structures that engage children and young people in everyday life and provide safety. When practices are planned for the school, it is important to remember that the war in Ukraine affects the everyday life of children and young people in Finland in different ways depending on where they live in Finland, their experiences and backgrounds.

The closer children and young people think the events reported in the news are, the stronger their reactions. Some children and young people may be extremely worried about their family members who live in crisis areas, and there are also children and young people who have come to Finland from war-affected areas and students who will be starting their military service soon.

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The school's task at all times is to monitor the well-being and learning of pupils and students. Now that Russia has invaded Ukraine and a state of emergency prevails in the country, it is important to pay special attention to the well-being and position of children and young people with Ukrainian, Russian and Belarussian background in the school community. It is important to ensure that no one is excluded from the community and that everyone's right to a safe day at school is realised.

Possible absences are also monitored more closely, they are intervened in early and the reasons for them are investigated. No child or young person can be held responsible for Russia’s actions in Ukraine and no one should have to be afraid to go to school or be ashamed of their background or mother tongue.

Pupils and students from ECEC to secondary education are entitled to student welfare services. Psychologists, school social workers and the professionals in school and student health services provide help when there are concerns about a child or young person. If necessary, they also provide help and advice to parents and offer consultation to teaching staff.

It is important to disseminate information about the availability and the contact details of student welfare services to pupils, students and homes alike. In is also important to encourage homes not to hesitate to contact the ECEC centre, school or educational institution if the parents are worried about the well-being of their child.

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