Innovative Finance
August 1, 2024
Context/Background
In Finland, growing concerns over persistent bullying in schools led to legislative reforms requiring every school to implement anti-bullying plans. Despite these mandates, national surveys showed no decline in victimization rates since the late 1990s, and Finnish students, though academically successful, reported low school satisfaction. Responding to these findings, the Ministry of Education and Culture partnered with the University of Turku in 2006 to develop an evidence-based, national strategy to reduce bullying and improve school climate.
Solution
The KiVa (Kiusaamista Vastaan – “Against Bullying”) Program aimed to systematically address bullying as a group phenomenon rather than individual misbehavior. Developed between 2006 and 2009 at the University of Turku, KiVa is a whole-school, evidence-based program targeting students in grades 1-9. Following extensive evaluation, KiVa was rolled out nationally in 2009, achieving over 90% uptake across Finnish schools. The Finnish Ministry of Education funded both program development and national dissemination.
The model combines universal actions targeted at all students with indicated interventions targeting those involved in bullying either as a bully or a victim. Universal actions include structured student lessons, online games, videos, classroom discussions, and complementary materials such as teacher manuals, parent guides, and visible school-wide KiVa symbols (posters, vests). Indicated actions involve guidelines to address bullying cases. Each participating school forms a KiVa Team (2-4 staff members) responsible for handling cases through guided discussions with bullies, victims, and supportive peers. Data-driven monitoring is integral: annual student and staff surveys assess implementation and outcomes. The program’s universal and indicated components reinforce each other, promoting pro-social behavior, empowering bystanders, and ensuring rapid intervention.
Impact
A large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving all nine grade levels of Finnish comprehensive education found that the KiVa program significantly reduced both bullying and victimization, particularly in elementary schools. In Grades 4–6, the prevalence of self-reported victimization and bullying declined by 30% and 17%, respectively, with comparable reductions across all nine forms of victimization, including racist, sexual, and cyberbullying. Peer reports confirmed less reinforcement of bullies and greater defense of victims, reflecting real behavioral change. Mediation analyses showed that improved student and teacher attitudes toward bullying explained much of this effect. Additional benefits included reduced anxiety, stronger peer relations, higher school satisfaction, and improved academic motivation. While outcomes in middle schools were more modest, overall odds of being bullied or bullying were about 20% lower in KiVa schools than in control schools, confirming broad and durable program effects.
During the national rollout in 2009, bullying and victimization rates declined 14–15% in one year among 150,000 students across 888 schools, equivalent to approximately 12,500 fewer victims and 7,500 fewer bullies nationally. Longitudinal monitoring (2010–2016) confirmed continued declines, with repeated bullying dropping from 17.2% to 12.2% and perpetration from 11.4% to 5.6%. International trials in the Netherlands, Italy, Estonia, Wales, and the United States similarly report reductions in verbal, relational, and physical bullying, along with gains in empathy, prosocial attitudes, and school climate. However, the effectiveness of KiVa in vulnerable or cultural contexts vastly different from Finland has not been determined.