What can be done to raise awareness?

A major anti-bullying programme, the Bullying Prevention Programme, was originally developed in Scandinavia and is now used in schools in many different countries. An important part of the Programme is raising awareness of bullying, not just within the school but outside too (involving parents in particular). One of the first steps in doing this is to administer the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire to find out about the extent, frequency and nature of bullying in school. The results can be used to make pupils, staff and parents aware of the extent of bullying in the school and so encourage commitment and action. Through a school conference day, regular class meetings about bullying and meetings with parents, the school can help to ensure that the results are widely known and that action against bullying remains a priority.
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Article details

D Olweus, S Limber and S F Mihalic, 'History and Description of the Bullying Prevention Program' in 'Blueprints for Violence Prevention', The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado at Boulder, USA. This paper can be downloaded here.

The information in this paper was taken from D Olweus, S Limber and S F Mihalic (1999) 'Blueprints for Violence Prevention. Book Nine: Bullying Prevention Program', Boulder, CO: Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence.
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Author details

Professor Dan Olweus was the first person to carry out a thorough research project on bullying. This large, long term study which began in Sweden in 1970, was to provide the inspiration for many who felt that bullying in schools should be challenged rather than accepted. Since the 1970s, his work in this area had continued with force. Indeed, in 1997-99, he led a group in a large project which introduced the widely respected Olweus (anti-bullying) programme to schools in Norway. Professor Olweus is based at the Research Centre for Health Promotion, University of Bergen in Norway and can be contacted by email.
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