Bullying represents a prevalent issue that impacts the safety, mental health and academic success of students across all school levels. With research showing a significant number of students experiencing various forms of bullying, schools must adopt effective strategies to create a safe and inclusive environment for all. This is precisely the topic of our eTwinning project, called “Goodbye Bullying, Hello Kindness”.
This project lasted for 4 months, between March and June 2026. There were 12 teachers and 88 pupils from Turkey, Romania and Portugal. The project was designed to transform school environments into hubs of empathy and respect. In line with modern educational approaches, the project shifted the focus from the problem (bullying) to the solution (Peer Kindness).
The objectives of the project were:
- to promote a sustainable culture of Peer Kindness in schools
- to increase students’ awareness of bullying and kind behavior
- to develop empathy and emotional intelligence skills
- to strengthen students’ ability to recognize, understand and manage their emotions while respecting the feelings and perspectives of others
- to enhance digital citizenship and cyber-kindness skills
- to foster international collaboration and intercultural understanding
- to build inclusive and respectful class communities
- to improve communication and peaceful conflict-resolution skills
- to enable students to clearly distinguish between bullying, peer conflict and intentional kindness through structured activities and discussions
- to develop the students’ ICT skills
- to take active roles as Kindness Ambassadors to prevent peer exclusion.
The pupils worked together and carried out a wide range of creative and informative materials, such as: videos, presentations, padlets, slogans, podcasts, bookmarks, kahoot quizzes, jigsaw puzzles, mind map, podcasts, brochures, digital books, acrostic poem, virtual exhibitions, collages etc.
For most of the tasks, students worked in international teams and learned about different cultures, shared experiences, and developed intercultural awareness throughout the project. The products are the result of the collaboration of students from partner countries and of collaborative and collateral work. Pupils loved working in teams, contributing actively and responsibly to the project. They were all meant to ensure the acquisition of 21st century skills.
The variety of web tools used for this project, in accordance with the students’ preferences and age level, have definitely met our project goals and enriched the activities of the project. They facilitated good task management, enhanced engagement and interactivity, as well as ensuring flexibility and adaptability. First of all, technology was chosen to offer proper communication between partners (both teachers and students). Thus, in order to complete the activities of the project, we used a variety of apps, such as: whatsapp, padlet (for introducing themselves), Phinsh collage (to make a picture presentation of the project activities), Kahoot, Google Meet (for videocalls), Google forms (to collect information), Canva, emaze for the virtual exhibition, Zumpad for the acrostic poem, not to mention the e-Twinning platform.
The pupils used, accessed, created some digital tools and shared digital content and ensured their online safety, digital well-being and cyber-security. A Netiquette page was created, according to which all the events, messages, posts, projects’ materials and everything published on the e-Twinning area by the participants in the project adhered to and complied with the core principles, in line with the European Union’s fundamental values. Some videos were posted about copyright, internet behaviour rules, internet safety and security, what it means to be a digital citizen etc. The students’ parents completed Parents’ consents, in which they expressed their consent regarding their children’s participation in the project, the use of photos or videos to be distributed only on the e-Twinning platform and the publication of some of the work done within the project. In addition, the students also played some e-safety games.
Furthermore, the “Goodbye Bullying, Hello Kindness” project was designed as a cross-curricular initiative fully integrated into the school curriculum. Project activities are closely connected with Social Studies, Language Arts, Guidance and Counseling, ICT, Visual Arts, and Foreign Language lessons. Rather than being an additional activity, the project reinforces and enriches existing curriculum objectives through experiential and collaborative learning.
Overall, the project had a positive effect on reducing bullying awareness and promoting a culture of kindness in participating schools. Students became more aware of the consequences of bullying and more motivated to act kindly and supportively.
In conclusion, the project “Goodbye Bullying, Hello Kindness” successfully met its objectives by fostering kindness, enhancing digital skills, promoting intercultural dialogue, and creating sustainable educational outputs. It has laid a strong foundation for future projects focused on social-emotional learning and international collaboration.