We define acceptable behavior together with children and young people. The definition of subjective experiences can be supported by, for example, the following questions:

What happened?”, “What made you feel that way?”, “What do you think he meant by that?”, What would you like me to do?”

All bullying is always taken seriously, regardless of its form. Bullying can occur, for example:

• physically (e.g. pushing, hitting)
• verbally (e.g. barking, threatening, mocking)
• psychologically (e.g. exclusion, isolation from the group, mental subjugation)
• digitally (e.g. mocking or being removed from groups online)

Always contact early childhood education or school staff if you are concerned about bullying.

In our work against bullying, we emphasize preventive action. This means:

• Strengthening a sense of community and a climate of trust: We build a positive operating culture where everyone has their own place. Everyone is part of the community and can express their opinions, thoughts, feelings and influence the activities. This supports cooperation, respect for others and the development of emotional skills. We teach children how to work with others, how to join in play and how to pay attention to and respect others and resolve conflicts. Our schools have sponsored, support and Verso pupils as well as student agents and vigilance staff. Youth workers work in very close cooperation in the everyday life of our schools.

• Teaching and discussing emotional and interaction skills: Students practice expressing themselves constructively and understanding the perspectives of others. In early childhood education, we define acceptable behavior together with the children. Classes use time to group, discuss friendship, safety, and teamwork as part of normal teaching. Students are given ways to intervene in bullying and seek help.

• Regular monitoring: Students are regularly surveyed and various anti-bullying models and shared materials are used.

In Hollola, bullying prevention is a shared task of the entire early childhood education and school community, guided by a clear and systematic operating model. We build a safe learning environment by strengthening community spirit, supporting children's growth and learning individually, and responding to bullying situations quickly and consistently. Professional staff, open cooperation with guardians, and network-like partnerships with, for example, student welfare, youth work, and the police play an important role. We are constantly developing both the school's operating methods and the learning environment so that every child can feel safe, valued, and part of the community.

Parents play an important role in anti-bullying work. Open communication between early childhood education and school and home enables concerns to be addressed in a timely manner and together.

As a guardian, how can you prevent bullying through your actions?

Discourse: “I am interested, I ask questions and I listen.”

Working together: “I get to know my child’s friends and their parents.”

Positive encouragement: “I personally encourage fair behavior, honesty, and openness. I myself act as an example.”

Presence: “I create a safe space and am a safe adult for my children's friends as well.”

Possibilities of recovery – Events, culture, experiences: “I create opportunities for empathy, for example through fairy tales, stories and different roles.”

Home-school interaction

Interest and cooperation: “I will contact the school with a low threshold and participate in school activities whenever possible.”

Building trust: “I give feedback to the teacher and the school about both positive experiences and concerns in an open and constructive manner.”

Common game rules: “I act in accordance with the agreed school rules, operating models and values and support my child in following them.”

What to do if you suspect bullying?

1. Contact us early childhood education staff, class teacher, group leader or principal.
2. Tell clearly state your own view and experience of the situation.
3. Try to understand all parties and be active suitable for everyone to find a solution.
4. Follow along together. The responsibility of each person involved in the situation must be clear.

We are committed to acting decisively:

• We will respond quickly. to all observed or suspected situations without delay.

• We work in close cooperation between the student, guardians and school staff to ensure a complete understanding of the situation.

• We offer encouragement and support for the bullied, and we assist the parties involved in the bullying in the case.

• We are monitoring the situation., and we will make sure that bullying really ends.

We use various models and materials, social stories, interaction games and various emotion cards to support friendship skills. They help identify and prevent bullying and strengthen empathy, interaction and emotional skills. The principle is that a child should not be left alone to cope with social situations for which they do not have sufficient skills. Children's meetings are moments that can be implemented in early childhood education where students can bring forward ideas and influence everyday school life. The aim of the meetings is to strengthen children's participation, being heard and democratic decision-making at an early age.

Lions Quest– lessons (compass and passport materials) are special lessons in everyday school life that strengthen children and young people's well-being, emotional skills, group functioning and life management.

Compass lessons is aimed at 5th graders. The classes support students' self-awareness, empathy, and the development of emotional and interaction skills.

Passport hours are aimed at middle school students. They focus on supporting young people's independence, responsibility and problem-solving skills.

Ryti Days (grouping and activity days) are joint theme days for 7th graders that strengthen community spirit and the joy of working together.

https://www.lions.fi/lions-quest/ajankohtaista/lapset-tarvitsevat-kehittyakseen-turvaa-aikuisilta/

Social Security is a service used by schools through which students or guardians can anonymously report harassment, bullying, or other inappropriate activity that has occurred online or on social media. The service provides quick advice from experts to resolve the situation.

The goal of Social Security is to support student safety in the digital environment and help schools address online bullying effectively and confidentially.

The service is confidential, fast and easily accessible – reporting is easy.

How SDoes self-protection work?

You can find your school's login code in Wilma's announcements or request the code directly from your teacher.

Hollola's safety skills material is a multi-professionally developed entity that supports the well-being, inclusion and safety of children and young people as part of everyday school life. It is divided into two parts: for grades 2–4 and grades 5–6, and it is integrated into learning at the level of the entire age group.

Key objectives:

• Strengthens self-awareness and self-determination
• Helps children and young people to act more consciously and set boundaries
• Protect against sexual abuse and harassment
• Provides concrete action models for dealing with harassment
• Reduces anxiety and prevents mental health problems
• Strengthens peer support and the ability to recognize temptation and inappropriateness
• Increase dialogue between children, young people and guardians

Contents of safety skills classes:

• Appreciating your own body and its uniqueness
• Recognizing boundaries, safe touch, and a safe adult
• Online privacy, secrets and online etiquette

The material also includes parent-teacher evening materials and joint tasks for guardians and children/young people to complete, which supports early and open collaboration.

KiVa School® is an evidence-based anti-bullying intervention program developed at the University of Turku. KiVa aims to prevent bullying in advance and create an anti-bullying culture that requires the commitment of the entire school community.

Fun lessons and games

The program includes systematically held KiVa lessons that can be used to influence the behavior patterns of student groups and how children and young people act when they notice bullying. The program also includes various games, such as the Puzzle Game and the KiVapeli, which help students practice resolving bullying situations.

Team model of operations and continuous monitoring

Schools have a KiVa coordinator or team responsible for the activities, teachers implement KiVa lessons, and bullying incidents are systematically addressed. The KiVa program provides clear instructions for effectively addressing bullying incidents and tools for continuous monitoring of the school situation.

The KiVa School program involves over 900 schools in Finland and is used in over 20 other countries.

 Researched benefits:

• Reduces bullying and improves the school atmosphere.
• Provides concrete tools and instructions for handling bullying situations.
• Supports student well-being and a safe learning environment.
• Internationally recognized method.

For more information about the program and its content, please visit: From the KiVa School website

Also available is a parent's guide: https://data.kivakoulu.fi/vanhemmat/

Peer mediation – Peace and understanding in the school community

The aim of peer mediation is to promote positive interpersonal relationships and resolve conflicts constructively in schools. Mediation is based on a restorative justice perspective that emphasizes being heard, equality, and fairness.

Trained student mediators guide the parties to the dispute to discuss their experiences and feelings and find a solution together. Mediation practices emotional and interaction skills that support learning and well-being.

Mediating learning community:

• prevents bullying
• promote learning and well-being
• develop emotional and interaction skills
• increase student participation
• strengthens the sense of security
• promote industrial peace
• reduce disciplinary actions and absenteeism

At the mediation meeting The students share their views on what happened and agree on solutions together to prevent the conflict from happening again. The mediators help to draw up a joint agreement, the implementation of which is monitored after about a week.

Kowloon Verso team guides the activity and ensures that the situations referred to mediation are suitable for the students to handle. If necessary, adults continue the investigation.

Peer mediation supports other intervention methods and helps to intervene early in activities that may cause distress. The activities are based on the basic education curriculum and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which emphasize children's participation and the right to influence matters that affect them.

Mediation teaches important life skills.

Additional information for guardians:
https://sovittelu.com/vertaissovittelu/huoltajille/

In Hollola we also have a lightened Yard-Verso, where the mediation situation is carried out immediately during break time by Piha-Verso students. The elements of mediation are the parties meeting, listening, discussing, reflecting and increasing understanding, as well as seeking common solutions. The mediation process has a clear structure, with the help of which impartial mediators help the parties themselves to make agreements on how to act in the future. It is important to work without blaming, so that possible stigmatization or role-playing does not affect the development of the child or young person's identity. Mediation is a socially safe situation where one learns to resolve conflicts while taking responsibility for one's own promises.

Pupil mentors and support students are trained older pupils who support younger members of the school community in their everyday lives. They act as role models, help new pupils adapt, promote community spirit and create a supportive and inspiring atmosphere. Sponsored students For example, they can participate in joint lessons with younger students and organize after-school games, excursions, parties, and craft times for them. Support students or tukars can introduce students to each other, introduce the school to new students, organize events and activities, invite lonely people to join, and intervene in bullying.  

The goal of sponsored and supported student activities is to:

• strengthens school spirit
• prevent bullying
• promotes safety and comfort
• increase student participation

Sponsored and support students organize joint activities and are involved in supporting well-being at school. They work in collaboration with the sponsored class, students, and school staff.

Read more about support student activities: Goals and values – Mannerheim League for Child Welfare

Active participation of students in school

Flash activity is part of the Mobile School program, where trained students, i.e. Flashers plan and supervise after-school activities for other students. They organize games, activities and physical activities that increase movement, community and enjoyment during the school day. The activities also develop the Välkkärit's own social skills, responsibility and leadership skills

Student agency activities in turn offers students interested in technology the opportunity to utilize their skills for the benefit of the school. Trained agents work in collaboration with supervising teachers and help younger students practice new skills. Student agents can also support teachers and students in everyday digital situations, participate in the planning and implementation of projects, and act as digital assistants for party arrangements. The activity develops cooperation and interaction skills as well as digital competence, and you will receive a certificate that can be useful when applying for summer jobs, for example.

Both forms of activity strengthen student participation and offer meaningful roles in the school community.

📌 Additional information for guardians:

Mobile school

Studentagent.fi