COPENHAGEN “Danish children are among the European children who experience bullying the least often”, rejoiced the Danish Institute of Public Health report four years ago.
School bullying had been significantly reduced over the past couple of decades.
While in the late 1990s, around one in three 11-13-year-olds said they had experienced bullying at school, in the late 2010s, the proportion was less than five percent.
Director of the advisory service of the national parents’ organization Broken Alice Bille lists in Copenhagen at the organization’s office how Denmark achieved good results.
– We have invested considerably in the prevention of bullying. According to the law, schools must have an action plan against bullying. In addition, there are instructions that can be used to deal with bullying situations, says Bille.
According to Bille, extensive research data and good practices of other countries have been used when preparing strategies and guides. The parental counseling service also praises the fact that it was established in 2017 Board against school bullying.
According to the Danish School Act, a student or his parents can complain if the educational institution does not do enough to prevent bullying or intervene in bullying situations at school.
The complaint is initially submitted to the school, which must create an anti-bullying strategy or a precise action plan within ten days to investigate the bullying incident in question.
If those concerned are not satisfied with the actions of the educational institution, they can send the matter further to the anti-bullying board. This board can ask the school to find out the situation and find a solution that satisfies all parties.
OAJ: The Danish model has some points of convergence with Finland
In Finland, parents can ask the municipality’s board responsible for education to find out how the school has handled bullying cases.
You can also file a complaint with the Parliamentary Ombudsperson (EOAM) or the Regional Administrative Agency (AVI) if the school has not done enough to eradicate bullying.
However, these are time-consuming, bureaucratic methods that do not solve acute bullying situations in schools.
The teaching trade union OAJ has demanded that AVI could start an investigation on its own initiative if, for example, there has been clearly more bullying in one municipality than elsewhere. Currently, a parent or student complaint is required to initiate an investigation.
OAJ’s director of education policy Nina Lahtinen according to the Danish model, the difference from Finland is, for example, that schools have the obligation to create an action plan to stop individual cases of bullying as well.
In Finland, only a school-specific anti-bullying and welfare-promoting plan is required. If the bully has had to be expelled from school, a plan must be drawn up for him to support his return to teaching. Returning in a worrying direction
During the last few years, Denmark’s good development has turned around. According to the most recent school health surveys, even about every tenth student has experienced bullying.
Rikke Alice Bille of the parent counseling service believes that one of the reasons is that educational institutions have received less money than before to promote well-being.
– Schools and municipalities are financially strapped, which is why there have been no resources for bullying prevention.
The number of complaints made to the anti-bullying board has almost tripled in five years. In 2023, 136 complaints had been made to the board by August, of which in 23 cases the board ordered the schools to draw up an action plan to resolve the situation.
Director of the Educational Environment Center responsible for the Board’s operations Kristian Toft estimates that cases are reported more sensitively, but on the other hand there are also more cases of bullying.
– We have more tools than before to deal with bullying, and we talk about it openly. At the same time, of course, we are concerned that the students’ nausea seems to have increased.
“The board is good in theory but powerless in practice”
has been in contact with the parents of four children who were bullied at school and has seen the written decisions of some cases.
The parents are satisfied that the board condemned the schools’ actions, but feel that the board’s decision did not change the situation much.
From Jutland Lasse says that her 9-year-old child was bullied at school for years, and the school did not do enough to prevent the bullying. Lasse complained about the matter to the board, which demanded an action plan from the school to stop bullying the boy.
Disappointed by the powerlessness of the appeals board, the father launched a citizen’s initiative in which the schools would be liable for compensation if they have not intervened sufficiently in the bullying. The citizens’ initiative did not advance in the Danish parliament.
– At the level of the idea, the appeal board is good, but in reality its decisions do not have enough power to change things, Lasse says to .
According to Kristian Toft, director of the Education Environment Center, the board’s strength lies in the fact that it brings parents, schoolchildren and the school to talk to each other through an impartial body.
– However, the anti-bullying work itself is the responsibility of schools, educators and municipalities. It is important that many guides have been made for schools, which they can use to build a safe learning environment.
Rikke Alice Bille, director of the parent advisory service, says that the school board under the Danish Ministry of Education also has a role to play.
– Bullying at school shows that something is already wrong in the entire community. In Denmark, the task of the school board is to promote the welfare of children and parents and to ensure that schools have an anti-bullying strategy.