Anti-bullying programme focused on changing bystander behaviour should be in Irish schools

A national anti-bullying programme focusing on changing bystander behaviour should be rolled out immediately in Irish schools, a leading expert urges.

Director of the Anti-Bullying Research Centre at Dublin City University, Dr James O’Higgins Norman, said they developed an anti-bullying programme based on a highly successful Finnish model.

Called Kiva (meaning nice), it includes role-playing exercises to increase the empathy of bystanders, and computer simulations to encourage students to think about how they would intervene to reduce bullying.