Debrecen4U February 19, 2026

“The Power of a Hug” for the Mental Health of Young People

The Family and Child Welfare Centre of the City of Debrecen held its annual conference on the detection and signaling system at its headquarters on February 18, 2026. This time, presentations focused on certain aspects of the school-based mental support program launched in Debrecen last year titled “The Power of a Hug.”

As highlighted by Ibolya Aurélia Orosz, head of the Family and Child Welfare Centre of the City of Debrecen, the municipality considers it extremely important that situations endangering children are detected and reported in a timely manner. The operation of the detection and signaling network plays a key role in uncovering the underlying causes behind problems affecting children and in providing them with appropriate, professional assistance. Protecting children is our shared responsibility. It is not only the task of the child protection system, but of every professional and responsible citizen who monitors the fate of children. Regardless of whether a child is being raised in their own family or is receiving child protection care, it is our duty to recognize problems in time and take the necessary steps. It is particularly important that domestic violence and child abuse do not remain hidden or be treated as private matters. Timely reporting and intervention by professionals can change lives and destinies. As Ibolya Aurélia Orosz emphasized, based on the professional experiences of recent years and the observations made by specialists, there is an opportunity to further strengthen cooperation and make the signaling network more effective. The action plan prepared following the professional consultation will ensure that concrete steps can be implemented based on jointly formulated proposals. The head of the Family and Child Welfare Centre expressed her gratitude to all professionals involved in the detection and signaling system for their dedicated and committed work. Their cooperation, responsible attitude, and professional expertise are indispensable to ensuring that nearly 40,000 children in Debrecen can grow up safely, with appropriate support and opportunities.

Deputy Mayor Diána Széles welcomed the participants, paying special tribute to Police Colonel Zoltán Illés, the new Chief of Police of Hajdú-Bihar County. The deputy mayor emphasized that in Debrecen, as a result of broad cooperation, the child protection detection and signaling system functions very well – and increasingly well. In this context, and in relation to the possible prevention of problems and the reduction of difficulties, Diána Széles spoke about the program titled “The Power of a Hug,” which was launched in the 2025/2026 school year through cooperation between the Municipality of the City of Debrecen, the Debrecen School District Centre, and the Family and Child Welfare Centre. The program began in the city’s largest secondary school, Tóth Árpád Secondary School, and at Szoboszlói Street Primary School, with the hope that, by proceeding in small steps to ensure quality work, all schools in Debrecen will eventually participate, according to plans in a phased system. As part of the program, professionals hold sessions in the institutions, taking into account the age-specific characteristics of the children. These sessions provide a community experience and support self-awareness development, strengthening class communities and promoting students’ mental well-being – with the aim of preventing the emergence of problems that would ultimately need to be reported by the detection and signaling system. As Diána Széles stressed, through “The Power of a Hug” program they seek to build in children the skills of self-awareness, mutual attention, acceptance, empathy, care, and mental self-protection. This requires very serious joint work from all participants. According to experiences so far, the program has been successful, and in those classes where the sessions take place – within the framework of homeroom and ethics lessons – even children who had previously been pushed to the periphery of class communities have begun to open up. As a result, class communities are strengthening, children are paying more attention to one another, and the number of self-harm incidents, school bullying, and cyberbullying cases is decreasing. It was necessary to take action against these phenomena, as their number is significant in Debrecen as well. In order to reduce cases, children, parents, and schools must cooperate by strengthening their relationships. Diána Széles sees a very serious civilizational problem in the way social media affects children today. If we do not try to teach children not to hurt one another on social media, what kind of adults will they become? According to the deputy mayor, a caring city like Debrecen must lead the way in this educational work and try to teach children how important empathy is – that we must not hurt others because of their gender, name, appearance, or any other characteristic; nor because they think differently about the world than we do. We must build an accepting society, and – partly due to the prevailing conditions on social media – this is a very difficult task. Within the framework of “The Power of a Hug” program, Debrecen has undertaken to teach proper behavior to children in small communities, within class groups. If this works well, the process can continue in increasingly broader communities – at school level, then through families, and later at district and citywide levels as well.

Ibolya Aurélia Orosz, head of the Family and Child Welfare Centre, reported on her institution’s activities last year – illustrated with numerous data – and also highlighted the importance of cooperation with partner organizations. Regarding the operation of the child protection detection and signaling system, she noted, among other things, that most reports come from public education institutions, healthcare providers, and the police. Compared to previous years, the number of such reports increased in 2025, and unfortunately the cases are becoming increasingly difficult and complex. There are social reasons behind this: people are becoming more impatient, they want to solve problems very quickly, and this also affects how they treat children. Among the types of abuse, there has unfortunately been a significant increase in emotional and sexual abuse, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, peer abuse, and digital abuse. This cluster of problems has also prompted the search for solutions and the intention to provide help to children, which is embodied in “The Power of a Hug” program as well. According to Ibolya Aurélia Orosz, this program can help children, families, teachers, and professionals working with children and families. She also drew attention to the fact that several episodes of “The Power of a Hug” podcast are already available online (the first episode is accessible at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0_MY2jO68g), in which professionals discuss various topics related to the program.

The leadership report was followed by presentations from the staff of the school-based mental support program “The Power of a Hug,” launched in the 2025/2026 school year in connection with the “Move, Debrecen!” movement – Sándor Erdei, institution director, child protection expert and mediator; Anna Versényi, psychologist; and Sándor Beke, psychologist. Their presentations addressed safe communities, the cooperative handling of bullying, the importance and development of emotional intelligence, as well as love and relationships from the perspective of today’s teenagers.

Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu