For parents

11-12-12 04:06

Is your child being subjected to degrading treatment at school or pre-school? In that case, the school is obligated to investigate and take action. If the school is not doing enough to prevent this degrading treatment, you may submit a complaint to the Child and School Student Representative (BEO).

Degrading treatment may include someone sending malicious e-mails or text messages, being repeatedly teased for something or being excluded from the rest of the group. And, of course, it includes violence such as hitting, kicking, pushing and threats. If a child or student is subjected to degrading treatment on repeated occasions, it is usually termed bullying.

If your child has been called degrading names relating to race or sexuality, it may constitute a case of discrimination or harassment. Read more about discrimination on the Equality Ombudsman's website, www.do.se

Zero tolerance towards degrading treatment

Your child does not need to be subject to repeated degrading treatment and bullying as the school or pre-school is obligated to investigate and take action as early as the very first occurrence. It is the principal organizer which is responsible for the running of the school or pre-school, and so it is ultimately their obligation to ensure that your child is not subjected to degrading treatment. In the case of municipal activities, the municipality is the principal organizer, and for independent schools and pre-schools, the principal organizer might be a company or a cooperative association.

If your child receives degrading treatment from other students

If your child receives degrading treatment from other students, you should report this to an adult at the school or pre-school, for example a teacher or head teacher. As soon as they become aware that a child or student feels that they have been treated in a degrading manner, they are obligated to act by investigating the situation and taking appropriate measures. But if they do not do this, you may turn to us who work at the Child and School Student Representative (BEO).

The simplest way is to write and tell us what has happened. We will then ask the school or pre-school what they have done to prevent the degrading treatment. What happens after this depends on the situation and on what has been done to prevent the degrading treatment from continuing. In the most extreme case, BEO may decide to call for the principal organizer, that is the owner of the school or pre-school, to pay damages. Read more here: Making a complaint

If you are not satisfied with what the teachers and head teacher are doing to improve the situation for your child, you may also contact their immediate superior. If your child attends a municipal activity, it will be the director of education (or the equivalent) who is the official with responsibility for schools. If you still not receive help, you may contact the politicians on the board responsible for education. If your child attends an independent activity, you may contact its board of governors, or the equivalent.

If you have received degrading treatment from your teacher – or another adult at the school

It is strictly forbidden for adults in schools or pre-schools to treat students in a degrading manner. If your child has received degrading treatment from an adult, you may make a complaint to BEO. If the school does not acknowledge the degrading treatment your child has been subjected to, it falls upon the school's principal organizer to prove that it has not taken place. Having said this, it is also the obligation of staff to engender a safe school environment, which may sometimes mean resorting to disciplinary measures such as admonishing a student or sending a student out for the remainder of a lesson. These measures, though they may be perceived to be so, might not actually constitute degrading treatment in the eyes of the law.

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