Team Estonia promotes fight against school bullying

The women’s national team of Estonia will promote a campaign against school bullying in conjunction with the CEV Eurovolley 2023 Women matches in Tallinn after joining forces with a local charity. The home favourites will be wearing a specially designed competition shirt displaying the message “Block Bullying”. Moreover, each block scored by any player contesting the Pool D matches in Tallinn will contribute towards a fund established to fight bullying at school.  

“We are very grateful to the volleyball community for deciding to cooperate with the organisers of such an important sporting event, as well as to the players of our Estonian national team, with the help of whom we can launch an original campaign against bullying in schools,” said Ingi Mihkelsoo, CEO of the Bullying-Free School Foundation / SA Kiusamisvaba Kool. “It is a painful subject that, unfortunately, is an everyday occurrence.”
 
In this campaign, a specially designed, pink-coloured competition shirt worn by the Estonian national team members will be catching the eyes of the fans and instead of the usual advertisement, the home players will display the charity message “Block Bullying”. Team Estonia will be wearing this shirt for the first time on Wednesday when they play France in the Pool D opening match.  

“Since Estonia ranks high in Europe when it comes to school bullying and we want to block bullying, we decided to support the mission of the Bullying-Free School Foundation (KiVa). We collect donations from blocks scored throughout the tournament, including block points by players from other countries. Each block equals € 10, which allows the KiVa programme to reach one student. At the end of the Pool D matches, we will count all the scored blocks, and the Estonian Volleyball Association will make a donation to the Bullying-Free School Foundation (KiVa) for the total amount,” said Toomas Vara, Marketing and Communication Manager of the Estonian Volleyball Association.  
  
According to Vara, the idea of the campaign is that with each block, bullying is exposed, and the bullying prevention programme run by KiVa is brought to yet another student. It is also a good way to give players extra motivation and put in a special effort to block.   

Moreover, a giant trophy has been created to draw attention to the topic, which is some recognition for school bullying that no one wants to get. The trophy will be placed at the entrance to the Unibet Arena, the Pool D venue in Tallinn. Engraved across the cup are nasty words and phrases collected with the help of affected students. The trophy also includes a call to donate to the Bullying-Free School Foundation (KiVa) to create a safe and caring educational environment for Estonian children by preventing and stopping bullying and allowing kids to grow into happy people. 
  
The CEV EuroVolley 2023 Women Pool D matches run from August 16 to 23 at the Unibet Arena in Tallinn. The Estonian national team hosts France, Finland, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and Spain. 

SA Kiusamisvaba Kool / The Bullying-Free School Foundation, founded in 2012, also mediates the KiVa programme developed at the University of Turku (Finland) to Estonian schools. With the help of the KiVa programme, children learn to recognise bullying and respond appropriately to bullying incidents, with a strong emphasis on acknowledging the role of bystanders. KiVa engages the entire school family – since school staff, students and parents are all involved in their activities. In addition to Finland and Estonia, the KiVa programme is already used in more than 20 countries worldwide.