Reacting on Hate Speech, Improving Teenagers Mental Health

AMAD concluded the project about countering hate speech that brought together various stakeholders. Through the activities of this project 83 teenagers aged 14-18 got involved through essays sharing their experience when encountered hate speech. And hundreds more were involved in the national survey on hate speech, as well as in the focus groups of discussions.

The voice of the teenagers was the core activity in this project which also had the support of the Albanian National Television, which through a signed Memorandum of Understanding gave a weekly TV space to this project. The interviews held in the TV studio during the morning program “Ora 7” gave voice to these problems and empowered youngsters to be more open in talking about this topic: Reacting to improve. The institutional stakeholders reacted during the roundtable of discussions and expressed their disposability and engagement as a team in tackling this issue. Stakeholders who participated represented: Albanian Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination, Audiovisual Media Authority, Ministry of Education and Sport, Ministry of Interior, Municipality of Tirana, Municipality of Shijak, Parents Association of Children with Disability, National Youth Congress, Albanian Media Institute, Council of Europe Office in Albania, Open Mind Spectrum Albania (CSO), ShKEJ (CSO), Highschool directors in Tirana, Highschool teacher in Shijak and journalist in Radio Tirana, Sociologist and journalist in Club TV.