Only four stalkers have moved – no casualty figures moving – NRK Norway – Summary of news from different parts of the country

– It’s a pretty low number. It is also quite an intrusive tool to move a student against their own will, says Education Minister Guri Melby (V).

Melby, like his two Conservative Party predecessors, has vowed that victims of bullying will not have to change schools to escape bullying. When NRK did the same review last year, only one student had been transferred since the new bullying law went into effect on August 1, 2017.

The law was intended to help combat harassment and strengthen victims’ right to protection.

– I am glad that we have the tool that allows transferring students to another school. I think it’s an important tool, says Melby.

However, there are very few cases that end with relocation, even though the Education Law states that a student can be relocated if the student’s behavior seriously affects the safety or learning of one or more fellow students.

In the four cases in which the aggressor has had to move, it is the school or the municipality that has made the decision, which is later confirmed by the county governor after a complaint.

It shows a review that the ministry has conducted at the request of NRK.

There are no figures on whether the students have been transferred without appealing the decision to the county governor.

I do not know how many victims of bullying move

However, there are no figures on how many people choose to move because they are exposed to harassment.

– We have chosen not to request any report in this regard. I think we should consider whether we have a good enough basis for that. It is important for us to follow up on anti-bullying work in general. That we have good enough statistics and a good enough number base, says Melby.

– When a student changes schools, they must complete a form. Why is it not a column that the school environment is the cause?

– I can’t answer you here and now, but I have to take it. I think that’s one of the things we should consider.

– It moves silently

Karianne Nergård Smitt leads the Parents’ Network Against Bullying. She herself has experienced a serious case of bullying with her daughter and is waiting for a possible survey.

– I think it’s great. I hope you not only see it, but implement it. In order to do something about it, we must have data and better numbers on the table, he says.

Smitt says she is surprised that there are no figures on how many victims of bullying are moving.

– According to the information we have, there are innumerable parents who move and change schools in silence. I think there are a lot, he says.

Does not help

One of the reasons few students who bully have to move is opposition from the county governor and the anti-bullying ombudsman.

Bodil Houg, the anti-bullying ombudsman at Viken, believes that it doesn’t help to forcibly move individual students.

– If you understand what bullying is, then it is about entire cultures where there is a lot of uncertainty. It is rarely about a person. Although there are people who do things, they do it to be rewarded in the culture that they are. Therefore, it is not very appropriate, says the leader of the ombudsman for students, apprentices and bullying in Viken Bodil Houg.

– You say it doesn’t help. Has been tested?

– It has not been specifically tested because it has been used very little.

– But when not tested. How do you know it doesn’t work?

– Because if you know what bullying is, it’s about culture. Common culture. And it’s all about reward systems in cultures, Houg says.

Sacrificial moves: – May be plan B

Houg recommends that parents contact a bullying ombudsman and complain to the county governor if the measures that are eventually put in place at the school don’t help. She believes that schools and especially school-owning municipalities should be more accountable when bullying cases are not resolved.

– But if many rounds have passed, we know that many have passed. The school environment is not yet safe. They say you are considering moving. What do you say then??

– When they have gone through those rounds, it may be a wise decision for some children. I have seen that it has been very good for some children when they have experienced those rounds. Sometimes it takes too long and the child has the best luck not to be standing on it.

– Did you give that advice?

– I have not given the advice directly, but I have said that it may be a plan B that parents should take into account. It is not my job to give that advice directly.

Ask for a change in attitude

Karianne Nergård Smitt, from the Parents’ Network Against Bullying, believes that little has happened when it comes to measures in bullying cases after the arrival of the new bullying law.

– In many cases we have access to the rights of the perpetrator of violence or harassment and the person who is exposed in conflict with each other often comes into play. And we see that the rights of the perpetrator actually take precedence. And that’s wrong, she says.

And he believes that too quick conclusions are drawn that moving the person or persons who are harassing will not work.

– Then you have to try things. And see if it works or not, says Nergård Smitt.