40 high-school students and teachers from Kichevo attended a workshop on combating hate speech. The goal of the workshop was to gather high-school students and teachers from several schools and to discuss the main concepts of hate speech, counter-narratives, bullying, and the different ways how people can take a stand against hate speech.

Lejla Dervisagic, Head of Operation of the Council of Europe Programme Office, opened the workshop. She emphasised that it is important to talk about bullying, discrimination and hate speech, especially because the perception among teachers and children on these topics often differs. “It is very important to talk about these issues because they influence each individual differently and because that everyone’s goal is to have healthy children and healthy society.” – she said

The workshop was attended by 40 teachers and students from the primary school “Sande Sterjoski” and the high-schools “Mirko Mileski” and “Drita”.

The participants were introduced to the main definition on hate speech, discussed about stereotypes and prejudices, as well as the line between freedom of expression and hate speech.

The participants also worked in groups and through practical examples they learned how to recognise hate speech and bullying and how to fight against these negative concepts in the society.

Young people and their professors also learned about the online platform for reporting cases of discrimination against the Roma community.