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The Code

1. The school is a community.
Schools strive to create a community of teachers, students, their parents and non-pedagogical employees of the school based on a clear and transparent system of standards.

2. We respect each other.
The school community builds an atmosphere of safety, respect, open dialogue and understanding between teachers, school employees, students and parents. All members of the school community respect each other and refrain from aggressive behavior.

3. We work together against violence.
The school has a system for counteracting violence which clearly defines binding standards, procedures and rules of cooperation of all involved parties concerning conflict resolution and reacting to aggression and violence. The rules apply to all members of the school community: teachers, students, non-pedagogical employees and all persons within school premises.

4. We hide nothing.
The school regularly diagnoses the problem of violence and results of the violence prevention system are monitored and evaluated.

5. We react every time.
The school reacts to every act of aggression and violence and provides long-term, appropriate help to both victims and perpetrators of violence.

6. The teacher is not alone.
The school takes action to provide teachers with the right knowledge and skills for conflict resolution and dealing with aggression and violence.

7. The students know what to do.
The school organizes for students regular preventive activities on psychological and social skills, as well as dealing with aggression and violence.

8. Parents are with us.
To counteract violence, the school cooperates with parents by involving them in the development of system for counteracting violence and including them in educational activities.

9. We have allies.
The school cooperates with the external environment in undertaking preventive action and interventions concerning aggression and violence if the needs exceed the school's capacity or competences

10. We reward good examples.
The school promotes models of behavior based on respecting the dignity of each individual.

The Code of the “Schools without violence” includes standards that should be met by schools wishing to support the idea of counteracting violence. On one side, the Code defines the values and standards of action, and on the other hand lays down the formal and organizational conditions that need to be met by schools wishing to contribute to conflict solving and reducing violence.

The basic premise of the Code is the need to build school communities which involve all participants of school life - teachers, students and parents. The Code stipulates that only when such a community, based on mutual respect, is established, can the school function efficiently in an atmosphere of safety and understanding to fulfill the other postulates of the Code. Prof. Janusz Czapiński, one of the authors of the Code emphasizes that this item is crucial - “We have existing communities in Poland , such as families, and there the prevalence of social pathologies is relatively low. There is no need to draft guidebooks for resolving difficult situations, because the community will regulate itself. The school can be such a community, but it is not. The first, crucial point of the Code is designed to help change this state of affairs. The remaining items are expansions of the main point. Their fulfillment is meant to develop in students and teachers a sense of bond and pride of belonging to this particular school. For parents, this is supposed to help them feel more satisfied with the school system.”

The Code also points to the need to diagnose the problem of violence, the need for immediate reaction to any evidence of aggression and the right of all interested groups to be educated on the subject. Also emphasized is the need for cooperation with the external environment of schools. "The school is not a solitary island. It is located in a specific village or district, with housing estates, factories, farms, shops and churches in the vicinity. All these institutions can and should cooperate, because only the cooperation of many social partners will yield results in counteracting violence in schools and outside of them," said another co-author of the Code - Jacek Michałowski from the Polish-American Freedom Foundation.

The Code was drafted by the campaign's Steering Committee consisting of: Ms. Joanna Pilcicka, President, Media Regionalne, Ms. Dorota Stanek, President, Polskapresse, Prof. Janusz Czapiński, social psychologist, dr Anna Giza - Poleszczuk, sociologist, Ms. Ewa Czemierowska, psychologist from the Association for Psychological Prevention in Schools and Mr. Jacek Michałowski, psychologist, program director at the Polish-American Freedom Foundation.