Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Minister Torbjørn Røe Isaksen and healthcare minister Bent Høie initiated a summit on bullying which was held in the Prime Minister’s residence this morning. The goal was to better prevent and deal with bullying in schools, and gather suggestions for how victims and their parents can get help when schools do not follow up on reports of bullying.
The summit marks the start of the government’s efforts against bullying, and was attended by representatives of teachers, pupils and relevant organizations. “We must do everything we can to prevent bullying. Children who are bullied are hurting when it happens, but they also take it with them for the rest of their life,” Høie says.
Several former victims of bullying attended the breakfast meeting and shared their stories. Morten told of his experience with years of bullying, violence and harassment. “I found myself on the outside most of the time […] It is central to what bullying does to you, it undermines the development of your opportunities.”
“Bullying is a culture. You must cultivate yourself away from bullying with another culture,” he advises.
Aftenposten has a short video interview with Morten and Prime Minister Erna Solberg about the summit here. You can watch a video of Morten’s remarks here.
Morten is pictured above with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and bullying victim Margit Axelsen.
This initiative is extremely important, and Morten applauds Margit and all victims of bullying who are speaking out and working to make a change. Good luck to you, Margit!
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