Children learn about different family lives through play
Translated from Croatian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
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Outcome reported
- Adopta ran four workshops to help students understand children growing up in different family and alternative-care situations.
- Through games, interactive exercises and guided discussions, students explored equality, inclusion, difference and acceptance.
- Students found the workshops useful and asked for them to continue in the new school year, while teachers received related training.
What makes a family, and who can be a parent? These were among the questions explored by children during the “Colorful Schools, Which Children Love” project, organized by adoption-support association Adopta.
The project introduced students to children and young people growing up in different family circumstances, including alternative care. Across four thematic workshops, they discussed equality, social inclusion, differences and accepting others through games, interactive exercises and guided conversations.
Children meet peers every day whose family circumstances differ from their own, but they often lack enough information about those differences.
The organizers said the project showed how talking openly about different family experiences can help prevent peer violence and create a more inclusive school environment. Students were encouraged to express their views, question their own reactions and consider how their words and actions affect others.
When we do not talk about them, assumptions, stereotypes and prejudice can easily fill the space.
“Children meet peers every day whose family circumstances differ from their own, but they often lack enough information about those differences,” said Dubravka Marušić, Adopta's executive director and a social pedagogue. “When we do not talk about them, assumptions, stereotypes and prejudice can easily fill the space. Talking about different experiences of growing up is not only a conversation about family. It is also a conversation about acceptance, relationships among peers and preventing violence.”
Students rated the workshops as useful and said they wanted them to continue in the next school year. The project also included teachers and school specialists, who received training on the identity development of children growing up in different family and social circumstances.
Talking about different experiences of growing up is not only a conversation about family. It is also a conversation about acceptance, relationships among peers and preventing violence.
About this summary
Originally published by Večernji List in Croatian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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