– We are very concerned about this development. That’s what Morten Rosenkvist, director of the Directorate of Education, says. The student survey is compulsory for 7th grade, 10th grade and vg1. In the last two years, according to the survey, there has been an increase in bullying in the 10th grade and year 1, after several years with lower numbers of bullying. In the 7th grade, the proportion of pupils who experience bullying has had a steady increase since 2018. An increase of 11 per cent in the 10th grade An increase of 6 per cent in vg1 An increase of 13 per cent in the 7th grade This is the biggest increase from one year to another since 2016. – Bullying is serious in itself, and when the numbers increase as markedly as they do, and over two years in a row, we think it is serious, says Rosenkvist. Morten Rosenkvist, director of the Directorate of Education, is concerned about the development. Photo: Camilla Alexandra Lie / news More unrest than normal At Sandefjord upper secondary school, which is the country’s largest, 11.9 per cent of students in the first year state that they have experienced bullying in recent months. – It is a figure that is higher than we like to see, says principal Harald Møller. He says that fights and inappropriate messages on social media have contributed to creating more unrest than normal this autumn. Sandefjord upper secondary school has had more unrest than normal according to principal Harald Møller. Photo: Håkon Lie / news – It seems that some carry with them a way of being that is not compatible with being a student at upper secondary school, says the headmaster. Student council leader William Nystad does not think the bullying culture is greater in Sandefjord than elsewhere, but says it is important to work on prevention. Deputy head Maria Wangberg believes that the work being done to reverse the trend will help to prevent similar problems next school year. William Nystad, head of the student council and Maria Wangberg, deputy head of the Sandefjord high school student council believe that prevention is important. Photo: Håkon Lie / news Why have the numbers gone up? The student survey is an anonymous user survey where students answer a series of questions about how they feel. – The numbers don’t really give us any clue as to why it is like that, just that it is like that, says Rosenkvist. He believes it is a combination of several things. – We see that after corona we have had an increase in the number of bullying. In the same way, we see that learning results and other important results are not going in the right direction. In the Student Survey, students are asked three questions about bullying: Have you been bullied by other students at school in the last few months? Have you been bullied digitally (mobile phone, iPad, PC) in recent months? Have you been bullied by adults at school in recent months? At the same time that bullying numbers have increased, motivation among students has decreased. – Fortunately, motivation has decreased less than bullying has increased, but this is also something we are concerned about. Both the figures for bullying and motivation are worrying, according to the Directorate of Education. Photo: Håkon Lie / news – We see that there are weaker learning results, i.e. that the students learn less from the various surveys we have, and that may be linked to motivation, says the director. Interesting figures But it is not only negative figures that emerge in the survey. Nine out of ten of the upper secondary students say that they enjoy school. In primary school, eight out of ten say the same. – There is a two-sidedness – We are concerned and think this is serious at the same time that we see that the school is good. Henrik Raustøl is a bullying representative in Oslo and thinks the figures are interesting. – Those are high numbers. It is clearly a tremendous increase, I think. – And then it is somewhat interesting that there is an increase in some areas and stability in other areas. He refers to bullying figures increasing, while well-being figures are stable. – It is very interesting to explore a little further, and I hope that the schools and school leaders do that. Bullying ombudsman Henrik Raustøl believes it is important that schools go through their own figures. Photo: Sturlason / Oslo municipality Raustøl is concerned that the stable well-being figures mean that bullying is not taken seriously. – The children say they are enjoying themselves. He encourages the ten schools to enter their own figures. The negative comments weigh heaviest The group of friends Tuva Stornes (16), Edda Nilsen Holtan (16) and Karita Møller (16) sit in the canteen at Steinkjer upper secondary school and work on school work. None of the girls have experienced bullying themselves, but have heard stories from others. – A lot goes into getting comments on different things such as style, body and generally how you are as a person, says Møller. The comments can come both in real life and over the internet. Nilsen says that such comments can go beyond self-image. – One negative comment weighs more than many positive ones and you get very hung up on it. Edda Nilsen Holtan says she is doing well at school, but finds it sad that others experience bullying. Photo: Eivind Aabakken / news She says that it is the platform TikTok that is most popular among young people and that it is often where the comments come from. – There you often post videos of yourself and there are open comment fields, so it is very easy to comment on people. The girls say they don’t talk much about bullying among themselves because they don’t experience it themselves. – It is very sad that people experience it. That can lead to pretty bad things, says Møller. Knows what needs to be done The director of the Norwegian Directorate of Education is clear about what needs to be done to overcome bullying. – Good class management, clear adults who are present and who care, systematic work over time, and involving the students in how we want it to be in the class, he says. The Directorate of Education will support the schools and municipalities with various resources, such as guidance and competence packages.
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Increase in pupils experiencing bullying – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
