Challenging multiculturalism: Interethnic violence in schools in Cyprus

This paper follows the work presented in an edited volume (Kassimeris and Vryonides, Routledge 2011) whereby aspects of multiculturalism have been addressed in a number of countries in Europe and North America. It will report on the preliminary findings of an empirical investigation of 600 students attending primary and secondary schools (12 and 17 year olds) on interethnic relations in Cypriot schools. The conditions of interethnic and interracial relations among children and youth across EU states are highly heterogeneous and require a multi-level approach. The situation in this field is changing rapidly and it is becoming even more complex due to EU enlargement, globalization processes, and diversification of migration flows. The paper is a product of an EU funded project which aims to address the implementation of children’s rights and specific problems of the under-researched topic of interethnic and intercultural violence in the school environment. The general objective of the on-going project is to analyze the nature and extent of violence-related phenomena in the school environment in Cypriot schools that arise from xenophobic and racist sentiments and discriminatory practices. The concept of violence in the project is understood in the broadest possible sense as it refers to any kind of behaviour or treatment that poses a threat to human dignity. Any act of violence originating on the basis of ethnic sentiment that appears at the interpersonal or institutional level in the form of physical or psychological violence should be understood as violation of basic children rights. Although school children and youth are one of the most vulnerable social groups when discussing consequences of interethnic intolerance and conflicts, xenophobia, and racism, there are few studies that deal with this topic both in the Cypriot social context and elsewhere.