Should you force your child to go to school?

Bullying can lead to skolevegring (school refusal); should you force your child to attend a school where the child is subjected to bullying? The answer is no. The child’s health must always come first. We have no compulsory school attendance in Norway, but we do have compulsory education. Very few families are able to teach the child at home, so compulsory education often means compulsory school attendance in practice. If the child is not receiving the education required by law, it is important to seek professional help:

• Work actively to see that the child’s right to a safe school day is met, so that the child can fulfil the duty to receive education as quickly as possible.

• Apply for hospitering (a trial placement at another school) if the child should not, or will not, go to school because of bullying.

• Obtain a legeerklæring (a medical certificate) if the duty to receive education cannot be met because of bullying. Talk to fastlegen (your GP) about possible treatment, information about treatment options or a referral to a specialist.

• You can also talk to BUP (child and adolescent mental health services) about treatment and preventive help.

We are aware that families who keep the child at home from school because of bullying may be reported to barnevernet (the child welfare service). See the separate section on when the child welfare service is used as a means of pressure in bullying cases. In such cases, seek constructive cooperation with barnevernet in order to get the bullying problems at school resolved.

It is important not to keep the child at home in order to “punish the school”; the child’s best interests must always be the goal. If the child misses teaching and falls behind academically, that becomes an additional burden on the child. There is little reason to believe that the school experiences the child’s loss of teaching as a “punishment”, particularly if they are unwilling to see the bullying problems and put suitable measures in place.