Fair:Play

The "Fair:Play" project aims to establish an interdisciplinary and sustainable network for bullying prevention specifically for apprentices. Bullying is a massive problem for employees and apprentices. More than two-thirds of Austrian employees have experienced bullying in the workplace; internationally, 20% to 33% of adolescent schoolchildren are affected by bullying. A study by the Styrian Chamber of Labour concluded that 62.1 % of Styrian pupils in grades 3 to 6 have experienced bullying or cyberbullying and 37.1 % have experienced physical attacks or destruction (AK STMK 2019) The negative effects on the academic and psychological development of young people are well documented (Hinduja & Patchin, 2017; Machmutow, 2012; Quirk & Campbell, 2015). Prevention programmes are therefore in high demand, but relatively few evidence-based measures exist. Existing programmes generally have a number of weaknesses, such as being difficult to integrate into everyday working life, failing to address relevant aspects and lacking attractiveness. Fair:Play aims to address these weaknesses by building an innovation network around interactive training and counselling services for bullying prevention for the target group of apprentices. The core elements of the project include the development of gender-specific and intersectional prevention measures, the creation of interactive training courses using serious games and the implementation of peer tutoring programmes. These approaches are intended not only to increase awareness and understanding of the problem of bullying, but also to provide practical tools for conflict resolution and to strengthen the resilience of apprentices.