School bullying must be tackled more effectively

Bullying and violence can leave lasting scars on children and young people, affecting them for the rest of their lives. We must ensure that all children and young people have a safe school environment where no one has to fear being bullied.

I propose that Tuusula examine both the need and the possibility of adopting the so-called South Karelia model for addressing school bullying and violence.

This approach has yielded good results in South Karelia. The core of the model is that bullying and illegal acts are treated separately. Clearly unlawful acts are referred directly to the police and social authorities for further action. In schools, such unlawful acts may include assault, unlawful threats, theft, defamation and violation of confidentiality of communications.

In practice, the South Karelia model works as follows: when a child under the age of 15 commits an unlawful act at school, they are referred to a group discussion involving the perpetrator, the victim, the guardians of both children, the police and a youth legal representative. The head teacher who led the working group that created the model has said that in their schools, those who have committed acts of violence have not repeated their actions after such a discussion.

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