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Dan Olweus and the OBPP

First of all, there might be an important question popping up in your head: who is Dan Olweus exactly?  

Dan Olweus was a Swedish-Norwegian psychologist and research professor at University of Bergen, Norway. His main research interest was bullying, and with his work, he became the pioneer of researching it. At the end of his PhD program in Sweden, he wrote a dissertation on aggressive behaviour among young boys. Interesting to mention that he was the president of the International Society for Research on Aggression from 1995 to 1996. 

In the 1970s, Olweus did a systematic study in connection with bullying among children. Later, the study with the result was published in 1973, named “Aggression in the Schools: Bullies and Whipping Boys”: the mind-blowing fact is that it is considered as the first official publication about bullying IN THE WORLD. 

(Source is you want to learn more about him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Olweus ) 

THE OBPP 

The OBPP stands for Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, which was first published by Dan Olweus in the 1980s. Its goal is to reduce bullying at schools by restructuring the classroom and promoting positive behaviours by rewarding them. 

Citing the official website, OBPP is...: “The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) is a school-wide, comprehensive framework focused on systemic change to create a safe and positive school climate. The goals of the OBPP are to: 

  • reduce existing bullying problems among students 

  • prevent new bullying problems 

  • achieve better peer relations [...]” 

 

The program consists of four main components—four different but strongly connected approaches to handling bullying.

SCHOOLWIDE: 

  • Conduct committee and staff trainings 

  • Refine the school’s supervisory system 

  • Involve parents... 

 

INDIVIDUAL 

  • Supervise students’ activities 

  • Hold meetings with students involved in bullying 

  • Hold meetings with families of involved students... 

 

 

CLASSROOM 

  • Hold regular class meetings 

  • Hold meetings with students’ parents... 

 

COMMUNITY 

  • Develop partnerships to support your program 

  • Help spread anti-bullying messages... 

 

 

With this short summarization, I wanted to introduce you to his incredible work on bullying prevention! I hope you found at least some useful information.:) 

If you wish to know more about this Program, here is the link for the OFFICIAL WEBSITE where you can find a lot of details:  https://clemsonolweus.org/about.php  

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