The Handbook for addressing and managing signs of difficulty, distress, and prejudice in the school environment is a document created by the Guarantor for the protection of minors and vulnerabilities of the Lombardy region, in collaboration with the School Office for Lombardy, and was presented on September 8, 2025.

The purpose of the Handbook is to support school personnel by providing useful guidelines to identify the various needs of students, thus activating the most appropriate support tools for each requirement.

The Handbook addresses the following main topics:

• Recognition and management of difficulties, distress, and prejudice, providing operational definitions and tools to identify and manage critical situations involving children and adolescents, distinguishing between difficulties, distress, and prejudice.
• The role of the school, highlighting the importance of teachers in detecting signs of vulnerability and promoting timely interventions, thanks to their daily observation and trusting relationship with students.
• Inter-institutional collaboration, promoting dialogue between schools, families, and social services for coordinated and effective interventions, emphasizing the need for protocols and territorial agreements.
• Reporting and complaints, providing operational guidelines for reporting situations of prejudice or crimes prosecutable ex officio, with models for formal reporting and complaints.
• The use of digital technology, analyzing the risks associated with the use of technologies by children and adolescents, such as social isolation, cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate content, and body image disorders.
• The role of the school psychologist, introducing the figure of the psychologist as support for students, families, and school staff, with a focus on well-being and prevention.
• Legal protection, describing the competencies of Courts, Prosecutors, and protective figures (guardian, special curator) for the protection of minors.
  The regional guarantor, illustrating the role of the Guarantor for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerabilities, as an independent figure for the defense of fundamental rights.

The presentation of this Handbook represents an important precedent and can be considered a good practice to be applied in other Italian regions.