In recent days, the Campuses of Lucca students involved in the “Wellbeing at school” path were held in Capannori, in the headquarters of the Artemisia cultural centre, and in Lucca, in the spaces of the Real Collegio, in collaboration with the municipal administrations of Capannori and Lucca respectively. ”, which in this 2023-2024 school year involved 10 high schools in Lucca and Piana.
The Campuses are part of the “Wellbeing at school” path which sees the collaboration between the Education and Health Promotion Structure in the northern area – Lucca headquarters and the high schools of the Lucca plain and which began in 2009.
This is a “system” path, which is renewed every school year and, thanks to this networking work, since 2023 all schools have had the opportunity to join the proposal of the Tuscany Region and the Regional School Office, called “Schools that Promote Health”, to which 4 high schools and 6 comprehensive schools in the Lucca plain have joined to date and other schools have decided to sign up.
The total number of students trained in this 2023/2024 school year was 725 girls and boys.
The teachers who participated in the training, and were therefore able to accompany the students in their training path, were 52 this year.
The project aims to promote the well-being of students and teachers, combating phenomena resulting from discomfort such as bullying, addictions and violence.
Among the topics addressed by the young people this year, it is worth highlighting: addictions, not only to smoking, alcohol and substances, but also to digital technologies (meetings held in collaboration with the SerD, addiction service); bullying (interventions carried out thanks to the collaboration of three high schools in the network); sexual education, with a focus on sexually transmitted diseases, with the collaboration of an infectious disease doctor from the North West Tuscany Local Health Authority.
Previously, on 21 May, in rooms made available by the “Ego” gym in Lucca, the Teachers Campus was also held, created to allow moments of reflection on the annual training courses with teachers and students and to give space to listening and to the care of the common work.
On Wednesday 29th, Friday 31st May and Monday 3rd June, students and teachers from the Vallisneri, Passaglia, Fermi, Giorgi, Majorana, Benedetti, Pertini, Machiavelli, Civitali and Paladini schools therefore worked together on the Campuses, which represent the day of closing of the meetings held during the school year. This initiative has now become an unmissable event, which for fifteen years has involved teachers from the high schools of Lucca and Piana with the operators of the Lucca Education and Health Promotion operational unit of the North West Tuscany Local Health Authority, in the promotion of well-being in the school.
During the three days full of activities, the lively group of “peer educators” kids put themselves to the test, reflecting on the topics of well-being, with an interactive methodology that also includes a comparison with their classmates from other schools.
This is training aimed at developing, as protective factors for health, the relational, social and emotional skills that are needed to feel good and which contribute to strengthening self-esteem and resilience, necessary to make responsible and conscious life choices.
The methodology used is interactive and experiential (Life skill education and peer education) with the aim of promoting the empowerment of the person, which means “enabling”, strengthening potential, becoming the protagonist of one’s own growth process and change. The activities promote non-violent lifestyles and encourage personal growth by enhancing life skills and a sense of self-efficacy.
The strong point of this path is youth protagonism, that is, the fact that it is their peers who propose initiatives for reflection and focus on topics that are so important for young people, who can involve them in a more incisive way and make the intervention more effective. The path involves training and co-planning with teachers on health promotion issues, with a focus on self-efficacy, assertiveness, resilience, managed by Education and Health Promotion operators.
In this school year in particular, the meetings concerned: health promotion, life skills education and peer education; the Wellbeing at school path – aimed at teachers who were approaching the project for the first time; the relationship with the adolescent; the group as a resource.
Peer educator student training involves three training steps.
The first is characterized by an initial approach to the themes of relationships and emotions (350 students during this school year).
The second phase consists of an in-depth study of the themes already addressed in the first, accompanied by meetings on affectivity and sexuality, in. collaboration of the Piana di Lucca Youth Counseling Center (213 students in this school year). At the end of this step, a “Health Campus” was proposed in 2024. The initiative saw the collaboration of various services of the healthcare company, which presented their activities and made themselves available to the children for questions and clarifications. The services present on the day were in particular: SerD (Addiction Service) of the Lucca Plain, Child and Adolescent Mental Health (UFSMIA) of the Lucca Plain, Adult Mental Health (UFSMA) of the Lucca Plain, Infectious Diseases of Lucca, Medicine of sport in Lucca, public hygiene and nutrition in Lucca. Focus sessions were held on various topics including the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, vaccination against the human papilloma virus (HPV), correct nutrition, the benefits of physical activity and other issues.
As part of the third step, the trained students – the peer educators (this year 162) then become protagonists of activities related to Wellbeing and organize events and meetings on various health topics, involving their classmates (their peers) within of educational institutions.
The peers are also engaged in support activities identified by the school such as orientation and welcoming of classmates from the first classes, upon inclusion in the new school, remaining points of reference during their academic career.
