Tampere region unveils Me arvokkaat! anti-bullying lessons for grades 4–9

A new four-lesson package called Me arvokkaat! gives pupils tools to reflect on values and help prevent bullying in schools across the Tampere City Region. The material will be published in Finnish on 1 October and in Swedish on 2 November, and it will be available to download free from the Tampereen seudun Osake website.

Designed for grades 4–9 and aligned with the Finnish National Core Curriculum for Basic Education, the lessons guide classroom dialogue and interactive exercises about shared values and everyday choices. The package was developed through multidisciplinary cooperation in the Tampere City Region and piloted in Lempäälä, Tampere and the Tampere University Teacher Training School. Pupil feedback was positive.

Anna Piirainen, a wellbeing instructor in Lempäälä who took part in the pilot, says young people need space to reflect rather than ready-made answers. Project manager Tiina Piispanen said similar material for pre-primary education is planned for early 2027 as part of the Kohti turvallista koulua project, which runs from August 2025 to July 2027 and is coordinated by Tampereen seudun Osake.

The package builds on recent local changes to emotional-skills teaching and efforts to encourage adults to listen to young people. It follows the city's September decision to integrate separate emotional-skills lessons into other subjects and complements the 'Listen to Youth' campaign launched in August to get adults to check in with teenagers.