children and young people report to the UN on their rights - Nova

Far fewer <strong>report</strong>ed having been bullied <strong>the</strong>mselves. Between 7 <strong>and</strong> 8 percent <strong>report</strong>ed being bullied two <strong>to</strong> three times a month/one or more times aweek.In Bjugn around 55 per cent of pupils at lower <strong>and</strong> upper secondaryschool answered that <strong>the</strong>re was ‘some’ or ‘a lot of’ bullying at <strong>the</strong>ir school.The remainder answered that <strong>the</strong>y did not know or that <strong>the</strong>re was nobullying. In Bjugn it was assumed that those who answered ‘no’ or ‘don’tknow’ had not personally been bullied at school.In Trondheim <strong>the</strong> pupils were asked whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>y or adults had doneanything <strong>to</strong> prevent bullying at <strong>the</strong>ir school. 62 per cent answered in <strong>the</strong>affirmative. Trondheim considered that <strong>the</strong> figure should have been higherin view of <strong>the</strong> schools’ low threshold for <strong>report</strong>ing bullying <strong>and</strong> zero <strong>to</strong>leranceof bullying. The figures broke down on <strong>the</strong> various tiers of school asfollows: primary school: 78 per cent, lower secondary school: 68 per cent,upper secondary school: 48 per cent. The project team in Trondheim wonderedwhe<strong>the</strong>r showing that one cares loses importance with increasing age.The answers <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> open-ended questions in Trondheim fell in<strong>to</strong> twomain categories: one in which <strong>the</strong> pupils <strong>report</strong>ed a problem which was <strong>the</strong>naddressed by teachers <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r adults. These pupils were concerned withdialogue <strong>and</strong> with having many individuals <strong>to</strong> interact with: o<strong>the</strong>r pupils,teacher, headmaster <strong>and</strong> parents. Pupils in <strong>the</strong> second category believed <strong>the</strong>rewas no point in <strong>report</strong>ing since no one cared or solved <strong>the</strong> problem.The main impression gained from <strong>the</strong> targeted-activities group inS<strong>and</strong>nes was that bullying was rife at school. Some said <strong>the</strong>y liked <strong>the</strong> school,while one said that given a choice he would ra<strong>the</strong>r have stayed at home. Allgroups were concerned with <strong>the</strong> issue of bullying. Many believed that bullyingoccurred at school, although <strong>the</strong>y were not aware of it <strong>the</strong>mselves. It was alsopointed out that bullying occurred between different groups of immigrants.Youngsters from <strong>the</strong> asylum reception centre were very concerned about<strong>the</strong> bullying of foreigners. Youngsters in <strong>the</strong> Alna district of Oslo stated:"Bullying is mostly on account of skin colour. I haven't seen any Pakistanis beingbullied recently. Now it's Somalis. They get bullied a lot." Young <strong>people</strong> from<strong>the</strong> asylum reception centre also believed that bullying was perpetrated no<strong>to</strong>nly by Norwegians on foreigners, but also between <strong>the</strong> various nations. The<strong>young</strong>sters said that <strong>the</strong>y experienced bullying from o<strong>the</strong>r pupils, but that itwas worst when <strong>the</strong> bullies were teachers. That was often <strong>the</strong> case. It was <strong>the</strong>same with o<strong>the</strong>r adults. "Many grown-ups don't like foreigners, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y tell44– NOVA Report 2b/08 –