Relationships based on patience, trust and empathy, built within families, schools and communities, are the strongest protective factor against the dangers that children and adolescents may face, Mirabela Gradinaru, the partner of President Nicusor Dan, said on Friday at the launch of the 'Prevention Starts with Relationships' addiction prevention campaign.

According to her, children need unconditional love, acceptance and security, and need to know that there is an adult who will listen to them without judging them.

'Prevention does not start with a statistic, it does not start with a ban, it does not start in a report. Prevention starts when a child feels listened to, when an adolescent feels understood. (...) Prevention starts in the relationship between child and parent, in the relationship between pupil and teacher - the teacher who notices, listens and is present when a difficulty arises - and in communities that do not look away when a child needs help, but choose to be part of the solution,' Gradinaru stressed at the event held at Cotroceni Palace.

She said that, at the beginning of this year, initial discussions were held between representatives of the 'Zi de BINE' Association, the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organisation and the Presidential Administration on the need for a coordinated approach to addiction prevention.

'Today, these efforts are taking concrete shape with the launch of the first addiction prevention campaign carried out by the 'Zi de BINE' Association, with the support of the World Health Organisation in Romania and the Ministry of Health, at the initiative of the Presidential Administration, through the ‘Romania in the Spotlight' project. At the heart of this campaign is a simple but very powerful message: prevention starts with relationships,' Grădinaru said.

According to her, adolescents are exposed every day to challenges that are emerging at a speed no other generation has experienced before, while parents themselves need support and reassurance.

'Parents need to be listened to, not just judged. Anyone who is a parent knows the questions that sometimes arise, even on the quietest days we have: Am I doing the right thing? Did I make a mistake? Did I do everything I could? Am I a good parent? No one can answer all these questions, but specialists can provide guidance, help us better understand what our children are going through and regain our confidence when we feel lost,' Mirabela Gradinaru emphasised.

The event at Cotroceni Palace brought together adolescents, parents, teachers, psychologists and addiction specialists, alongside representatives of public institutions and civil society. The campaign launched by the Zi de BINE Association is part of the 'Romania in the Spotlight' project run by the Presidential Administration.

The 'Prevention Starts with Relationships' campaign is built around the relationships in adolescents' lives, based on a conclusion supported by research and international guidelines: the strongest protective factor against substance use and behavioural addictions is not fear, but relationships. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Irinela Visan; EN - writing by: Cristina Zaharia)

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