Can you complain to the municipality?

The municipality is not a formal appeal body in bullying cases, but you may still consider complaining to the municipality.

The political and administrative leadership in the municipality has an interest in the schools having a good learning environment:

• The municipality owns the public primary and lower secondary schools in the municipality, and risks fines if the learning environment does not comply with the requirements of the law.

• The municipality’s politicians are elected to look after the inhabitants of the municipality, including children’s right to safe schooling.

• Politicians and the municipal administration care about the municipality presenting itself positively to the outside world, and rarely want the municipality to be in the spotlight over bullying cases.

Some municipalities have their own ombudspersons, safety contacts (trygg-kontakter) and multidisciplinary teams that can assist in bullying cases. In small municipalities the school leadership sometimes has close contact with people in central positions in the municipal administration, in politics and within the justice system. That can mean the bullying case becomes known primarily from the school’s perspective. The family is welcome to approach those responsible in the municipality with documentation of the bullying case, and to bring out the family’s experience. The municipality can contribute informal pressure on the school. Hopefully that can lead to less playing down of the situation and to a better understanding of it, so that suitable measures are put in place and possible isolation/stigma is prevented.

Read: Using the courts