Important when changing school
Send the complaint before changing school
Many families quickly move the child to another school in bullying cases. That can often be a good solution, but the family should in any case send a complaint to Statsforvalteren (the County Governor) before the move. If the child changes school because of bullying, the right of complaint is to be maintained, but we are aware that cases can be rejected by Statsforvalteren if the complaint concerns a school other than the one the child attends when the complaint is sent.
Hospitering — temporary schooling at another school
If immediate measures are necessary to make the child safe, but you do not want to change school, you can ask for the child to attend another school on a hospitering arrangement while the case is being processed and suitable measures are put in place. With hospitering you keep your right of complaint. Do state this in the complaint to Statsforvalteren.
Consider complaining anyway when changing school
If you change school because of bullying and do not want to move the child back, it can still be sensible to complain to Statsforvalteren, because:
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A complaint documents the bullying problem. When the child moves on to a new school, such as lower secondary school (ungdomsskole) or upper secondary school (VGS), you may risk meeting the pupils you deliberately moved away from. The same applies if there should be a school merger, or if the child ends up in the same pupil group for other reasons. We have seen several times that children who have shown great progress after getting away from a negative environment suffer a severe relapse when they meet pupils who have violated them. The complaint can become important documentation for preventing a child from being placed in a group with children who have bullied.
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A new school does not always solve the problem. Rumours and stigma may have spread, so that the bullying continues at the new school. The new school is often further away, with a long journey, an unfamiliar environment, no classmates in the local area and so on. Practical challenges can make it desirable to move back. It is therefore important that the school tackles the environmental problems, so that the child can move back. The complaint can become important documentation for preventing the child from being placed in the same group as children who bullied, and can generally help ensure that the child’s needs are taken seriously if the child returns to the school.
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Moving does not solve the environmental problem at the school the child leaves. A complaint can start a necessary process of solving the environmental problems at the school. If a child who is being bullied moves, other children will often be subjected to the same thing after the affected pupil has left. It is important that the school tackles the problems, for the sake of the whole pupil group.