Fri for Mobberi: Delrapport 1, 2 og 3.

The study assesses experiences from the project Fri for mobberi (beat bullying) developed by Save the Children Denmark, and conducted as a pilot project in collaboration with three municipalities: Aarhus, Kolding and Gentofte. One school and two to three kindergartens from each municipality participate in the project where they will test a number of tools to be used to prevent bullying. The project is aimed at children aged three to eight and it is the first of its kind in Denmark, as prevention of bullying was previously mainly aimed at slightly older children. The study asks four research questions:  How can children aged three to eight understand the phenomenon of bullying? What are the pedagogical and organisational implications of the project Fri for mobberi at the involved institutions? Do the stakeholders develop project ownership and if so, how? Do new relationships between kindergartens and schools develop in connection with the project? The study describes the project's implementation, development and results in three reports. This is the first report.

Child carers report to have observed increased caring and inclusive behaviour among the children after the project and that the project tools and materials are being used frequently and enthusiastically in the institutions. Both child carers and teachers report that they reflect more on their pedagogical practices on the basis of the project’s perception and approach to bullying. Three types of organisational ownership were identified: 1) the well-structured central control (conducted by the authorities); 2) local idealists; 3) professional mechanisms. Project ownership has shifted from Save the Children Denmark, to the municipalities and onwards to the individual institutions. However, the project has not reached parents, who have been informed, rather than involved.
Parents appreciated the additional information from the institutions in connection with the project, but would also prefer to be actively involved in the project. The parents consider anti-bullying an issue to be tackled at home, and they thus have a different perception of bullying than that suggested in the project. Some of the initiatives aimed at involving the parents in the project have focused on making it easy for parents to arrange play dates with their child and children with whom their child does not normally play; to emphasise the importance for parents to know the names of all the children in their child's class, so that parents can say hello to everyone and not just to their child's closest friends (e.g. the children took turns at bringing home a memory game with photos and names); to have parent representatives to provide input at parents’ evenings on behalf of all parents and; to let the ‘old’ parents introduce ‘new’ parents. The social relationship between parents is important to prevent bullying. The challenges with regard to involving parents are how to extend parents' sense of responsibility to apply outside the home and to focus on the entire community of children; to get child carers to engage rather than inform parents; that issues such as bullying are usually not considered relevant until a specific problem arises rather than an issue that could be addressed with a view to prevention; and finally to transform words and good intentions into specific actions.
The inter-municipal and municipal collaboration has been positively assessed by the pedagogical and administrative staff.
In addition, the project has proved to have the potential to create focus on how the transition from pre-school to school can be organised, although this is not a part of the project's purpose. However, the tool is not age-appropriate for school children.

The study was conducted with elements from ethnography and action research. The study has been supplemented with a (stakeholder) attitude study. The project takes place in three municipalities. One school and two or three kindergartens from each municipality take part in the project. The schools include the pre-school class and the second grade. The data were collected in face-to-face interviews and semi-structured telephone interviews with child carers and parents, photography-based interviews which include the children's drawings, and walk-and-talk interviews where the child is interviewed while showing the researcher the locations that are related to bullying and/or teasing. Additionally, unstructured observations are included that were made during the three days the researchers visited the institutions to make the interviews. In all, 167 interviews were conducted with 38 kindergarten children, 36 pre-school class children and nine parents of these, 33 children from the second grade (7-8 years old) and nine parents, nine employees from Save the Children Denmark, 15 employees from three kindergartens, 12 employees from the schools and three administration employees from each of the three municipalities.

Knudsen, R. K., Kampmann, J.; Lindberg, S. (2008). Fri for Mobberi: Delrapport 1, 2 og 3. Roskilde: Roskilde Universitetscenter.