A Wellington school principal says schools should learn from international research if they hope to lower bullying rates, after New Zealand was revealed to have the highest school bullying rates in the developed world.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report highlights the significant impact bullying has on students’ mental health and attendance.
The report said New Zealand reports the highest rate of bullying among OECD countries and the PISA 2018 survey indicated that 15% of students in New Zealand reported being frequently bullied.
Seatoun School Principal John Western said the report does not surprise him, saying the country has been “moving in this direction for a number of years.”
“It’s highly alarming. But possibly looking at our wider community and some of our leaders and how they behave, it doesn’t really surprise me unfortunately.”
The OECD report noted certain anti-bullying programs that some schools had actively and successfully introduced to curb bullying rates.
Western said Seatoun School uses an anti-bullying program called KiVa which was developed in Finland to promote positive interactions among students and empower them to be “upstanders rather than bystanders.”
“We looked at all the research. Luckily we were able to tap into Victoria University at the time and see what the data told us, and we found a product that internationally, across 25 countries, actually makes a difference in these outcomes.
“We look at creating a culture where it won’t start. And then if it does start or it happens then we address it front-on. We use a restorative approach where the students actually come up with the solutions, and then we follow that up and use surveys and data to ensure that number stays really low,” he said.
“We get tremendous feedback that our kids are doing well.”
He said he “wholeheartedly” agreed that it is a collective responsibility of schools, the community, parental involvement and policies to implement good culture.
“Schools work so hard to create cultures, but we reflect communities, and we reflect the wider culture of the day so it is a wider responsibility as well.”
He said it is “hard enough these days” to be a young person, citing the influence of being constantly attached to social media through smartphones.
“It’s really scary. It’s sad. If we can help one child go to school and not be bullied, then I think we’ve made a difference. And if we can drop it by a quarter or more then we’ve made a huge difference.”
