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TITLE OF DOCUMENT:

How do they do it - anti-bullying in Norway

NAME OF AUTHOR(S):

Teachers TV

NAME OF PUBLISHER:

Lambent Productions

LANGUAGE OF DOCUMENT:

English

LANGUAGE OF THE REVIEW:

English

KEYWORDS:

Whole school approach, anti-bullying culture,

DOCUMENT TYPOLOGY:

video

TARGET GROUP OF PUBLICATION:

Teachers, School Directors.

SIZE OF THE PUBLICATION:

Not relevant

DESCRIPTION OF CONTENTS:

Norway has reduced bullying in some schools by 50 per cent. In this video, which lasts about 30 minutes, UK schools (as permitted under the license) can find out why Norwegians are such pioneers in tackling bullying, and explore the key features of their successful approach.

Norway has a tradition of communal responsibility for its children - from the Norwegian public's compassionate response to a James Bulger-like tragedy, to the view that teachers are responsible for combating bullying.

In the video teachers, other adults working in schools, students and parents all talk about this communal responsibility. The policy and procedures are very clear, everyone who has responsibility for children knows how to deal with a bullying problem as soon as it is identified. Bullying isn't just left to the class teacher to deal with and the national anti-bullying procedure to be following is the same in every school, whatever age group. Students learn what is acceptable when they start school and they know that there will be a consistent approach, as long as they are in a school environment.

The main resons for bullying are identified as:

1) Opportunity - poor behvioural control
2) Rewards e.g. the bully likes to see the victim being afraid
and or likes to receive applause from the audience


REVIEWER’S COMMENTS ON THE DOCUMENT:

This video outlines an interesting 'all aspects' approach to anti-bullying with some new ideas which may be worth considering, especially to combat bullying in younger age groups. Some of the main points we picked out were:

The anti-bullying initiative is government led; A new law was introduced saying 'all children have a legal right to a good and bully free environment';Children's Ombudsman appointed; Follow a communal approach; Complete consistency of policy and policy application (everyone is trained and knows what to do) across all schools (Key stages 1-5); Zero bullying tolerance; Based on decades of research; Preventative strategies are essential e.g. high vizibility jackets worn by adults outside during break and lunch; Encourage reporting of bullying without stigma; Be open about bullying and regularly survey students to identify the extent of bullying in the school; Encourage students to be more aware of the effect of their actions and words; Peer mentoring; Parental involvement - if a child is being bullied and his/her parents complain, other parents of children in the same group are brought into school to discuss and work on the problem; A curriculum emphasis on good social behaviour; At Friday assemblies parents as well as students can attend to hear what is being said and done;

In Norway they believe that if the children have the best possible life whilst they are young, they will grow up to be the best possible adults.

NAME OF THE REVIEWING ORGANISATION:

Wilsthorpe Community School

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