Definition
Bullying is defined as repetitive, unkind actions by individuals or through unhealthy group dynamics.
Lolland International School takes proactive strategies in the prevention and response to bullying from both the traditional and modern definition as described below:
| Traditionel view on bullying | A modern view on bullying |
|---|---|
| Individuals | Class culture |
| Abuse of power, intellect or wit vs weak | Unhealthy group dynamics- Eg: low tolerance, insecurity, power imbalance, bad language/degrading comments, some students feel unsafe or keep a low profile, lack of empathy by some |
| Online behaviours eg. negative comments, abuse, fake profiles | Online behaviours eg: exclusion, misunderstanding (emojies) |
| Liner cause of events with a clear start | A complex web of causes, motivations and purpose with no clear start point |
| Judmental approach | Explorative approach |
| Bully-victim-bystander | Group dynamics |
Bullying and behavior resembling bullying - signs staff will look for:
- A student/ a group of students feel unsafe, insecure and have an unconscious fear of being excluded
- A student/ a group not students not fitting in with the norms within the class/ different groups in the class
- A student/ a group of students are the subject(s) of contempt and conscious exclusion
- A student/ a group of students giving excuses for their behaviour regarding one of the three former points
Did you know?
20% of complaints nationally are about teachers. The national average complaint comes from a parent of a boy in 4th grade.
What does the law say?
From the anti-bullying prevention strategy 2017:
All schools, if bullying or similar group dynamics is reported must:
- Take action to stop the bullying immediately.
- Investigate and create an action plan to stop the bullying no later than 10 days from receiving the report.
- Inform those involved, eg: parents and class
- Evaluate/follow up
Online bullying
The prevention on online bullying is a join responsibility between the school and home.
The school will follow the steps out lines in section 4 if the online bullying becomes a problem at school. For example, when online behaviours affect the behaviour or relationships at school.
The school will educate the pupils about how to stay safe online and what to do when you feel unsafe online. Moreover, take a screen shot, block and report.
Parents are the main responsible adult/s. parents need to take an active role in monitoring online behaviour through gaming, and mobile use. Parents must set screen time limits, set bed times, set app restrictions (depending on pupils age), and establish consequences.
Case Handling & Communication at LIS
When bullying, or poor group dynamics, is reported to the class teacher/s, by a child, parent, colleague, or principal:
- Take action to stop or remove the bullying immediatly.
Consult the principal. - Investigate-observce-assess.
Is there a case of bullying?
No: Communicate appropiatly, to all parties involved, about what was learnt. Continue to observe.
Yes: go to step 3. - Develop an action plan that involves the students, parents and class if necessary.
This must be developed within 10 days after the initial report. - Evaluate
Does anything else need to be done?
Communication- Only relevant parties will be informed unless it is a whole class issue. In some situations, communication may be very simple, eg: “there is an issue and it is being worked on”. Students involved in a bullying case should be allowed to maintain their privacy (thus insuring they keep their trust in the staff and will come to the staff in case something happens).
Documentation- document actions taken and any notes from consultations. Ensure that communication is sent out, perhaps regular communication will be necessary.
Every step of this process must be communicated to the principal. The principal and class teacher will decide if any of the following is necessary.
- Involve the school’s bullying prevention team to advise or facilitate work with the class.
- If other support services from the kommune are required, for example PPR, SSP, AKT or external eg. Headspace
- Underretning/compulsory reporting
When evaluating- consider other activities that could be included or kept (focus on the good), while still protecting students from further bullying.
What if I am not satisfied?
If the complainant is not satisfied with the action plan, after 20 days they may take their complaint to the complaints board against bullying’ (Den nationale klageinstans mod mobning) who will review the case. If there is still no satisfactory resolution, mediation will be entered into after 30 days.
Preventive measures
The school must take responsibility for prevention.
Relationship is most important for prevention through strong classroom management and boundaries delivered in a caring way.
Students will learn what bullying is and what to do in case they see bullying or behaviour that resembles bullying.
Skolestyrken tools and training to identify challenges in the individual classroom and work towards improving classroom dynamics to prevent the onset of bullying. Teachers and pedagogues use the tool “Værktøj til håndtering af trivselsfremme” (tool to increase well-being in classes) developed by Skolestyrken to improve the students’ well-being in the classroom both as a collective and in smaller group dynamics thus taking pre-emptive measures regarding bullying
Regular staff meeting on bullying preventions and detection.
Communication on website and to parents via Aula.
Annual student well-being survey ……
School board principle on cultural competencies….
Involvement of the student council.
Context
Points to remember:
- Parents may report bullying but may not see their child in context. However, parents are the expert in their own child and input from parents is valuable.
- Teachers are professionals and have the knowledge of the children in context and are therefore the most qualified to make a decision on whether there is a case of bullying or not.
