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	growing child education

Norway's Solution
By Christine Hartelt

In Norway in 1982, three children were driven to suicide after being bullied. Their deaths shocked and mobilized the country. A national campaign to prevent youth violence was implemented and has shown long-term results: since 1983, bullying in Norwegian schools has dropped by 50 percent. Additional benefits have included a decline in thefts, vandalism, and truancy in schools and in the community, as well as a dramatic decline in violence among youth. A more comfortable school climate, improved attitudes toward school, and better discipline are other positive outcomes.

Teachers and families across Norway received materials about bullying and how to counteract it. Schools have instituted sanctions for bullying, and teachers are providing more supervision on playgrounds. (One US study found that teachers thought they had intervened in 71 percent of bullying incidents when, in fact, they had intervened in only 4 percent.) Because children are adept at hiding bullying from teachers and because some victims may be afraid to tell teachers or their parents, increased awareness about bullying has been an important component of the Norwegian campaign.

In Norwegian schools, teachers help victims assert themselves in class to raise their self-esteem and increase other children's respect for them. Teachers also work with bullies and their parents. All students are sent a clear message that bullying behavior won't be tolerated; when harassment does occur, it is discussed in the classroom.

Christine Hartelt, the mother of two boys, writes about health and parenting in Monroe, Wisconsin.