– Being safe and well at school is a clear statutory right that our students have, says Minister of Education Tonje Brenna. She believes the latest figures are serious. For several years, a downward trend has been seen in the number of people being bullied. That trend has now reversed. The survey also shows that bullying is most widespread among the youngest pupils. Nordland is the county with the highest proportion of pupils who report bullying in the 7th grade. Digital everyday life is becoming an increasingly large part of students’ everyday life. It has also made digital bullying a real problem. In the past, it was the oldest who experienced being bullied digitally. That trend has also reversed in the last three years. The proportion of students in the 7th grade who have experienced digital bullying has almost doubled since 2017. – It hurts a lot. – It is terrifying. I think that those who grow up now should be better, but it turns out that they are not. They need the same training as we do. That’s what Sandra Lorenze Vestnes from Bodø says. She herself has experienced being bullied digitally, and has become involved in the fight against cyberbullying. Sandra Lorenze Vestnes from Bodø says that bullying on social media can make it even more visible and hurt even more. Photo: Private photo – It hurts a lot. For some, digital bullying can feel much worse than what happens in the schoolyard. – More people can see it on social media. It is much easier for those who write it to have backup, and then you might feel a little more alone. Vestnes is in upper secondary school, and is the fourth candidate for Bodø Høyre. She believes that both the pandemic and the teachers’ strike are part of the reason why there has been more bullying. – After two years of a pandemic and teachers’ strike, people have lost their social skills. – When you sit alone, browse TikTok or talk to people you don’t know very well, it has become easier to say nasty things. She believes that students today do not have as good relationships as before the pandemic: – Those who started in eighth grade and vg1 have not had the opportunity to get to know each other in the same way as before, because they start so much later. It may have become easier to be mean to each other. Main findings in the Student Survey 2022 Most students answer that they have a good learning environment with a high degree of well-being, support from teachers, academic challenge and mastery. More than 8 out of 10 pupils enjoy school well or very well. In the 7th stage, we see a slight decline in the last three years. The proportion of pupils who experience bullying is increasing at all levels compared to last year. The increase in 10th grade and vg1 occurs after several years of declining bullying, while the proportion who experience bullying in 7th grade has increased since 2018. Bullying is most widespread among the youngest pupils. At stage 7, 10 per cent say they have been exposed to bullying, while at stage 1 the proportion is 4 per cent. Fewer students in grades 7 and 10 are motivated to learn compared to the last three years. More students on vocational subjects than on preparatory studies like schoolwork. Pupils in the 7th grade and vg1 experience more student participation than in the 10th grade. (Student survey 2022) Need to improve school environments Leader of the Student Association, Aslak Berntsen Husby, believes – like Vestnes – that we are now paying for the school environments that were weakened during the pandemic and the teachers’ strike. – A bad school environment leads to more bullying because students want to secure their place in the community by pushing other students down, he says. Aslak Berntsen Husby is head of the Student Organization. Photo: Eivind Lotsberg / Pupil organization Husby believes that schools need more targeted measures to improve classroom environments in Norwegian schools. – There must be clear guidelines from the government on how bullying prevention is to be carried out. According to Husby, schools today operate very differently. Among other things, the overall vision and thinking about how to prevent bullying is vague. – It is not defined enough and we have to work on that. – If we don’t start focusing more on preventing bullying, we won’t be able to reverse the statistics. He believes the focus should be on prevention. He believes that this must be done in the classrooms and between the students. Must be worked with locally – Children must feel good and be safe in order to learn. Our schools must be safe. It is therefore very serious that there is now such an increase in those experiencing bullying. Brenna believes that work must be done locally to prevent bullying. Minister of Education, Tonje Brenna. Photo: Anders Fehn / news – The digital world our students are in means that bullying at school can quickly persist throughout the day on digital platforms, says Brenna. Bullying happens everywhere. Social media has made bullies virtually unstoppable. – This makes the problem more serious because the students do not get time off from the bullying. This has to be worked on well and comprehensively, so that we also behave well on the internet if we have contact with someone in the class there. Brenna encourages everyone who works with children and young people to take the statistics seriously and work with the school environment at each individual school. – I think the way we experience going to school has something to do with how we see society. If you don’t feel it’s safe to go to school, I think it’s something you carry with you into adulthood and can do something about your trust in society. – The fact that more people are being bullied is primarily serious for the individual, but also for us as a society. – Disappointing and serious Bullying Ombudsman in Nordland county municipality, Lasse Knutsen, sees the situation as serious. – Although a lot of good is done in schools in Nordland, it is disappointing and serious to see that Nordland comes out so poorly in the statistics when it comes to bullying figures. Knutsen writes in an e-mail to news that the Bullying Ombudsman learns that there are some common features of the schools that struggle with high numbers of bullying. – It is about understanding zero tolerance, the ability to detect and follow up bullying and exclusion, varying quality of measures and their implementation and finally the inability to meet both students and parents with recognition and understanding. – We need a force ceiling in the entire Nordland community where all adults take their share of the responsibility for creating good, safe growing up and learning environments.
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– Increase in bullying at all levels – news Nordland
