At the beginning of the year there was a “anti bullying week”(they call it Mobbing in in Norwegian) – at the French School in Oslo. It felt like a whole month when lectures and discussions were encouraged to educate children about what bullying. They learnt about what it looks like and how to distinguish it from harmless jokes and tease. One of the homework was to watch this video. It’s a nice upbeat Norwegian song about inclusion and friendship, urging to stop bullying “stopp ikke mobb”. My 6 year old loves it, it comes with gestures and he sings it all day!
The older students also got to make a video about the topic and got a conference covering the subject. I find it great that the schools makes a point to talk about it in all classes so the children understand what it looks like, what it makes bullied children feel and what is the right thing to do when they see such behaviors.
Inclusion is such a strong value in the Norwegian society. When organizing your child’s birthday it is best practice to invite the whole class, or all the boys or all the girls but not cherry pick as that can lead to excluding some. Parents are also encourage to organize small play dates with kids who are in the same class but don’t necessary play much together at school. In a different environment they might get to know each other more easily and get along better.
How about you, how is bullying handled in your country, city, school?