Stories behind the change ┃ The Badge

THE BADGE ┃ It brought together people determined to learn from the best, who returned to their communities to make a difference. 

There's something special about wearing a badge. A special feeling that occurs whenever you hang it from your neck or attach it to the chest. And you may be wondering: how can a piece of cardboard with your name on it, change something in the way you feel?We have all felt this at least once. At a conference, at a course, at an important event, on the first day of work or in a place where we arrive for the first time for a study visit. For a few hours or even days, your name is in plain sight. You don't have to introduce yourself every time because people know who you are, where you come from, and why you're there. And that's thanks to something so simple: a badge. The most interesting part is this one: the badge reminds you in a very simple way that you didn't get there by chance, but that there is a reason why you are in that place, among those people, at that moment. Maybe you've come to talk about what you know and pass on something you've been practicing for as long as you can remember, maybe you've come to discover what you don't know yet, or maybe you've simply come to be part of something that is related to what others do in connec-tion to you. Hence, that inspiring feeling that makes you feel that you belong to something that matters, that you have an important role and that your presence is not accidental, that you have to continue being what you are and that someone finds a purpose in what you do. For us, the people with badges have always been the ones who have chosen to become better at what they do.The most recent badge was worn by a teacher. He has been teaching for over twenty years and knows his subject very well. He has experience, he knows what he is doing and probably, many times he was the man to whom others came for advice. And yet, the world in which children grow up today is changing. A good part of it is moving into the digital space, and yester-day's experience is not always enough for today's challenges.

When children's world changes, so should the way adults understand and protect them change as well. In the last 25 years, "La Strada" has understood that the protection of children does not begin only when abuse occurs. It starts long before: in the classroom, in conversations between teachers and students, in the questions a child dares to ask, and in the signs that a teacher learns to notice.A badge is about a man who has taken the time to listen, ask questions and accept that he still has something to learn. And he does it continuously. This is also about courage, that cour-age that will not be told on the news and about which books will not be written. It's simply about the courage to say, "I don't know everything, but I want to be more prepared for my stu-dents."Over the years, thousands of teachers have participated in training sessions organized by the International Center "La Strada". They learned how to talk about online safety, how to recognize the signs of violence and exploitation, how to react when a child asks for help, and how to make the school a safer place.These teachers wore the badges only for one day, but it was enough for them to leave with answers they didn't have before and perhaps with a different perspective on the reality that children live every day. 

What "La Strada" knows for sure is that all of this has endured: in hundreds of lessons organized with students in classrooms, in thousands of conversations about internet safety and per-haps unknowingly, in the lives of entire generations of children, who at some point needed someone to listen to them and tell them that they should not be left alone with what happens to them. Sometimes change starts with a law. Other times, with a phone call. But sometimes, it starts much simpler: with a teacher who enters the classroom a little more prepared than he was yesterday.In its 25 years of activity, "La Strada" has contributed to chang-ing institutional practices in the field of preventing and com-bating violence, abuse and exploitation, online child safety, developing the skills of professionals and promoting interven-tions based on collaboration, respect for human rights and victim-centered approach. 

 

• 1.500+ professionals trained annually from justice, law enforcement, health, education and social protection systems. 
• 6 guidelines and practical tools developed and integrated into the activity of public institutions for identifying, investigating and intervening in cases of violence, abuse and exploitation. 
• 10+ national training programs developed for professionals.
• 700+ educational institutions benefited from training programmes aimed at promoting a comprehensive approach to online safety.