The project financed by the Calabria Region which provides for the presence of psychologists in schools enters the implementation phase. There are 43 specialist figures implemented in 285 lower and upper secondary schools, serving around three thousand classes which will be available from tomorrow.
The initiative was presented this morning at the regional Citadel by MEP Giusi Princi who, in his role as vice president of the Region, had created the project with President Roberto Occhiuto and the Order of Psychologists. The services will consist of the creation of special listening desks aimed at students, support for teachers during class councils but also for families. «It is an intervention – said Princi – that we strongly wanted with the President of the Region and the Order of Psychologists because we know that youth distress is a structural emergency in Italian schools. Calabria is a trailblazer at a national level, we have allocated nine million euros to this intervention.”
The measure is financed for three years but it is intended to make it structural. According to the president of the Order of Psychologists of Calabria, Massimo Aiello, «60% of the children asked for the presence of psychologists in schools. The data tell us that 30% of Calabrian children have difficulties in the mood area, eating and nutrition disorders are quite high, 14% experience a condition of bullying and cyberbullying and 30% have an addiction to multimedia products. It is important to intervene on these issues.” President Occhiuto spoke at the initiative, connected from Milan, and underlined that Calabria was «the first region to deal with a hidden epidemic, sometimes untold and experienced by families as a stigma. This is the psychological distress of many children which teachers sometimes realize but do not have the tools to intervene. We wanted to select specialized figures who could deal with it. These professionals will be busy even when schools are closed carrying out the same activity in the area.” Occhiuto then announced that he is working with health companies «to provide for the general psychologist, as well as the general practitioner. The initiative carried out in Calabria – he added – thanks to the commitment that my brother has spent in Parliament is becoming national and efforts are being made to implement it everywhere. We in Calabria did it using the European social fund, resources that were once returned.” In conclusion, Occhiuto addressed an invitation to the president of the Association of Psychologists: «I am convinced that going to a professional is like breaking down a barrier, it is for the child who experiences a condition of hardship and it is for the family. My idea is to make this first contact online too, to create a portal to be able to, discreetly, establish this first contact. I don’t know if it’s a viable idea, but the Region is willing to support it with specific resources.”