Why might changing school be an alternative you should consider?
«Why should my child move, when it is the others who are bullying?» The question is entirely justified. And yet the answer to what is best for your child may be a different one from the answer to what is fair.
Children have a right to a safe schooling, and as described in this guide, you can put a range of measures in place to fulfil that right. Unfortunately these processes often take time, and for every day that passes with bullying, the child is subjected to offensive behaviour. If the family lives in an area with options to choose from, it can make sense to consider an alternative school. Not because it is right or fair, but because it can make life better for the child.
Should it not be the one who bullies who has to move? It is now laid down in law that children who bully can be moved, so that the children who are subjected to bullying do not have to move. (The rule was introduced in 2017; in the new Education Act (opplæringsloven), disciplinary measures are gathered in chapter 13. The exact section has not been verified as of July 2026 — for legal clarification within FOMIS.) So, yes, in theory you can demand that it is the children who bully who have to change school. It is often difficult to achieve in practice, particularly if the school plays the bullying down. The quickest and simplest solution for making life better for the child may be to take the child out of the negative class environment.
Some claim that it does not help to move the child to a new school, that the bullying will simply continue. That is not necessarily true. Some do experience being bullied at a new school, while most of those we have spoken to say that the child was better off once he/she got out of the environment with bullying.
Some claim that it does not help to move children who bully, but that is not necessarily true either. If children bully in a group, it usually takes time to build up groups that can be brought along into bullying. At the transition to ungdomsskolen (lower secondary school) and VGS (upper secondary school), old pupil groups are often split up, precisely in order to counteract cliques.
What should you say to the child?
Should the child be involved in this process? Some children are conscious and active partners in solving their own bullying case, while others are unaware of their parents’ efforts. Parents must assess to what extent the child is involved.
If you choose to involve the child, you can have good conversations about the child’s experiences, and about which solutions can be considered. What does changing school involve, for example? A longer journey, friends you may lose and new groups who do not know the child, but where they know each other. Perhaps you can arrange a meeting with the new school? What about a trial placement (hospitering) at another school, and then possibly returning once suitable measures have been put in place? Giving the child the experience of having choices can be positive, but remember that even though the child is involved, it is you as the adult who has responsibility for the choices that are made.
Can you choose a school?
In Norway we do not have free choice of school, but children who apply to change school because of bullying are as a rule granted their wish to change school, or to have a trial placement. It is an advantage to have good documentation of the bullying case, preferably with a doctor’s certificate and a complaint to Statsforvalteren (the County Governor) when you demand a change of school.
In the case of a trial placement, or a change of school, we recommend that the family contacts the new school before the change, in order to achieve as good a transition as possible.
Read: Advice for the family