A group of 35 secondary school students from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia met online on 8 February 2021 to discuss their experiences, views and opinions on how the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture can be used to develop and promote a culture of non-violence in the school environment. This activity is part of a series of online regional discussions organised in the framework of the joint European Union and Council of Europe actions “Quality education for all”.

The students spoke about the relevance of the topic connecting it to their own experiences and highlighted that difficult conversations should take place in schools and within the education system.

The students concluded that in our region the culture of violence is less present in younger generations who long for change and this gives hope for the future. Using democratic competences such as empathy and responsibility can teach how to work together and help us build better schools and societies.

The next Democratic School chat room for students will be held on 11 March 2021 and will focus on media and fake news. The action “Quality education for all” is implemented under the European Union and Council of Europe joint programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.