Innovative Finance
August 1, 2024
Context/Background
Bullying involves repeated aggressive behavior with a power imbalance and is now recognized as a serious public health issue. Exposure to bullying among schoolchildren is strongly associated with seriously incapacitating psychological, social, academic, and mental health issues for victims. Perpetrators also develop problems, often of an externalizing nature such as antisocial behaviour and criminality. Schools often underestimate the extent of bullying and lack coordinated systems to address it effectively. In response to alarming data showing a 60% rise in school bullying since 1995 and an estimated 75,000 children affected in 2002, the Norwegian government mandated schools to implement anti-bullying measures. Developed by Dr. Dan Olweus, the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) was created to transform school culture by making respect, inclusion, and accountability normative behaviors.
Solution
The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) is a comprehensive, school-wide framework designed to create a safe and positive learning environment by addressing bullying through systemic change. The OBPP was implemented in Norway as part of a government-funded new national initiative against bullying. This large-scale effort was implemented between 2001 and 2005, offering the OBPP to more than 450 Norwegian elementary schools and lower secondary schools.
Implementation utilized a four-level "train-the-trainer" model to ensure fidelity and dissemination. The central Olweus Group trained instructor candidates through 10 to 11 whole-day assemblies distributed over about 16 months and ongoing consultation via telephone or email. Upon completion, each of these certified Olweus trainers in turn trained three to five key staff members at each participating school through a 2-day training for the key persons, who also received continuing supervision and assistance from their trainers. These key persons led staff discussion groups (up to 15 participants) that met regularly (every other week for 90 minutes) at their participating schools. The meetings served to provide comprehensive knowledge of the program, stimulate implementation, share experiences, maintain motivation, and coordinate activities to develop a whole-school policy. Implementation also involved conducting the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire (OBQ) survey prior to program start (Time 0) and again one year later (Time 1). The OBQ, which assesses experience and prevalence of bullying in inidivudal schools, serves both as a research instrument and an active component used to raise awareness and engagement among staff, students, and parents. The follow-up survey after a year of implementation helps track changes and give direction to the school’s efforts against bullying. OBPP’s structured, multi-level approach includes school-wide strategies such as forming a Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee, administering the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire, and effective supervision, classroom activities like regular class meetings and discussions and individualized interventions for students involved in bullying.
Today, OBPP is the most researched and best-known bullying prevention program globally, and has been successfully implemented in elementary, middle, and high schools across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Countries that have since implemented OBPP include Germany, Lithuania, Iran, Malaysia, USA, Mexico, Sweden, Norway, Germany and Iceland.The program now has a community component aimed at raising awareness and extending anti-bullying culture and engages the entire school community, i.e., teachers, administrators, non-teaching staff, students, parents, and community members, in prevention and response. Community partnerships and family involvement reinforce school efforts.
Impact
Extensive evaluations of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) in Norway, demonstrate substantial and sustained success. The initial large-scale trial implemented between 1983 and 1985 among 5th–8th graders achieved a 64% reduction in students being bullied and a 53% reduction in bullying others. An evaluation of the 2001-2005 national initiative using data from 100 schools and 21,000 students in elementary grades (4-7) confirmed similar effects, showing relative reductions of 32–34% in victimization and 37–49% in bullying within eight months. These schools also reported marked improvements in classroom order, peer support, and teacher intervention. Longitudinal follow-ups revealed that schools maintaining the OBPP framework sustained significantly lower bullying rates for up to eight years, with the likelihood of being bullied remaining 25% lower than in schools that discontinued OBPP and 40% lower than in non-OBPP schools, evidencing durable cultural and organizational change.
Evidence from multiple evaluations confirms the effectiveness of the OBPP beyond Norway. International implementations in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia have generally shown positive outcomes. Studies in Germany, Lithuania, Iran, and Malaysia reported significant reductions in bullying behaviors and improved prosocial interactions. While findings from the United States are more mixed with stronger results in elementary schools than secondary levels, global research affirms OBPP’s adaptability and broad potential to reduce bullying and strengthen school climates