There’s no quick fix against bullying
Our worst suspicion has become reality. Bullying is once again on the rise in Norwegian schools.
Bullying darkens every school day for thousands of Norwegian pupils. The last couple of years have seen an ugly rise in the statistics. The positive effect former Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik initiated by launching his Manifesto against Bullying, has unfortunately withered away. This development must be stopped until it’s too late. Remember, Bondevik’s offensive reduced the overall rate of bullying in school by 30 percent from 2001 until 2004. Hard effort works. Relentless labor’s exactly what’s needed to succumb bullying – the master threat to every European school’s vulnerable learning climate.
On the rise
Now bullying is one again rising as the number one threat against a well-functioning learning environment in schools across the country. Our current Educational Minister, Kristin Halvorsen, has placed the problem on the agenda. The recent National Pupil’s Survey confirms that one in five pupils experiences bullying in Norwegian schools. This number is stable, and certainly not satisfactory, regarding all the governmental measures taken against bullying. The next nation school review covers learning environment. We need to reveal if the school’s measures against bullying, and the national legislation itself, serves their purpose. The Education Minister doesn’t rule out the possibility of creating a national ombudsman for bullying, comparable to the Children’s ombudsman which already is an institution in Norwegian society. That is about time, the way we see it. After PM Bondevik’s Manifesto against Bullying scientific programs meant to reduce or prevent bullying experienced a significant rise in popularity. Now the leader of one of the programs, called Zero, Mr. Gaute Auestad, reports that bullying in upper middle school has risen by 144 percent from 2004 until 2008. Is this representative for the situation in other European countries? Why is it so in Norway? The demand for scientific programs is dropping. This is by itself discouraging. Likewise, we se that even schools witch have completed such a program, still experiences an insurgency in bullying. This is especially disturbing.
Continuous effort needed
There isn’t a quick fix against bullying, the way we in The Union Of Norwegian School Leaders see it. Mr. Auestad, master of the Zero-program, agrees with us. Efforts against bullying need to be sustained over a significant time period. Year by year programs and strategies must be applied to keep up the pace in order to sustain the positive effects of completing an anti-bullying program. A continuous application of behavior rules, attitude work and team effort between school management and teachers are as such needed. Professor in Behavioral Studies at the University of Stavanger, Mr. Erling Roland, supports this view. He claims that the recent regime of ever succeeding reform policies in Norwegian schools have laid claim on quite some resources that could have been used in the fight against bullying. It is likely that the school’s second social responsibility, that being creating socialized and free-thinking individuals, has paid the prize for this.
Creating well-socialized and empathic individuals must not be stacked at the bottom of the school’s to do-list. Learning results are of course of utmost importance. School managers should still be granted sufficient resources to manage both tasks equally well. Bullying needs to be addressed constantly. Mr. Bondevik claimed that fighting bullying is a leader’s responsibility. We couldn’t agree more, and are prepared to lead the way on the battlefield.
The treat of digital bullying
There’s no doubt that the growth in bullying is closely linked with the brutalization of the public space. Our Union, the Master of the Zero-program and school scientist Ingrid Lund at the University of Agder agrees. Lund conveys that the influence of media and the society at large reduces the threshold that prevents bullying. Unmerciful reality shows serve as inspiration and fuel for bullies. We as adults cannot flee our responsibility of being upstanding role models. Also, schools don’t deserve to become a thrash bin for every problem our society neglects elsewhere. Just as important as continuous awareness, is up-to-date countermeasures against new forms of bullying. Mr. Roland and Mr. Auestad argue that the significant rise in bullying comes as a result of the rise in digital bullying in specific.
Cell-phone harassment, harassment through social media, and the Internet at large, constitute a vast percentage of reported cases of bullying in Norwegian schools. The bully stalks the victim from school and all the way home. All the way into bed even, so to speak. School managers should therefore be allowed to implement stricter restrictions on especially the pupil’s use of social media during the school day. We must not lose the battle against bullying in school. If we fail, we will create a continuous social error that will haunt the pupil, and render him or her into a loser in our modern knowledge- and network society. Fortitude and awareness amongst governmental regulatory institutions and foreseeing school managers are the keys to fixing a chokehold on bullying. Let us not wait. Bullying doesn’t pass over by itself.