Bullies: A country that has reduced school bullies by 50%
LISTEN HERE >>Judy with Larry on 610 CKTB
Bullying is no laughing matter:
Judy talks to Larry Fedoruk at 610 CKTB about bullies in schools and in the workplace.
If bullies aren’t dealt with in schools, they eventually end up in the workplace.
Judy talks about Norway. Norway has a program a called the The Norwegian Project.
The three strategies that the Norwegian Project is based upon:
The Norwegian Project hinges on three strategies.
1) zero tolerance
2) taking away the opportunity and the reward
3) continued education and training.
Bullying has been reduced by nearly 50% in some schools:
Bullying has been reduced in some schools in Norway by as much as 50%. The Norwegian Project came into effect
in 1991 after two boys bullied a girl to death. Norwegians decided that they were not going to let the little girl die in vain.
Norway has a similar project in their workplace.
Mobbing in the workplace:
In the 1980’s in Norway, it was considered taboo to complain about being bullied.
Norwegians didn’t even have a word for bullying. Instead it was called ‘mobbing’.
Employees ( especially male employees ) were ashamed to admit that they were being bullied.
Then supervisors realized that bullying was the biggest issue in the workplace and after the Norwegian Project,
they created The Norwegian Work Act.
The three points of the Norwegian Work Act:
The Norwegian Work Act hinges, as well, on three points, similar to The Norwegian Project.
1) Zero tolerance
2) taking away the opportunity and reward from the bully
3) continued education and training.
The Blind Eye:
The Norwegian Project and The Norwegian Work Act are similar in that they don’t allow teachers and supervisors to
turn a blind eye. If a bully is reported, teachers and work supervisors are expected to deal with the matter immediately.
Teachers and work supervisors say that initially, they were worried that this would create a lot of extra work but in actual fact,
The Norwegian Project and the Norwegian Work Act make schools and workplaces easier because everyone is made aware of the
the same rules from the beginning.
* I wrote about this subject over a year and a half ago. Why is North America not using this effective method?
