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Program KiVa

Hi everyone!

The other day I discovered KiVa, a prestigious anti-bullying program developed by the Finnish Ministry of Education, whose effectiveness has been proven in rigorous scientific studies.

KiVa has been evaluated through extensive controlled trials involving over 30,000 students in intervention groups and 30,000 in control groups, and it has been shown to significantly reduce bullying cases. Moreover, its positive impact has extended to greater student motivation and improved academic performance.

Today, around 90% of Finnish schools have implemented the KiVa program. After seeing its high effectiveness, its success has spread internationally to countries like Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, New Zealand, among others. It is now available for schools in Spain as well.

The main goal of KiVa is to reduce bullying cases through three main approaches:

- Training teachers: Teachers are provided with strategies, methodologies, and practical tools to prevent, intervene, and monitor bullying cases effectively.

- Helping children develop empathy: Children learn to recognize their own emotions as well as their classmates’. The program reinforces their value system so they can stand up against bullying.

- Involving parents: Parents receive clear information about bullying and guidelines to help them recognize it and play a key role in maintaining effective school–home communication.

KiVa is built on three core principles:

1. Prevention: KiVa focuses on preventing bullying through school-wide actions aimed at all students, not just the bully or the victim. The goal is to influence the whole group, so that the group itself does not support or tolerate bullying.

2. Intervention: For situations where bullying is already occurring, the program includes specific actions targeting both the bully and the victim, and it also involves a small group of peers from their social circle to support the victim and help stop the bullying.

3. Monitoring and Follow-up: KiVa includes an online tool that helps evaluate the school’s starting situation and provides continuous monitoring of the progress and changes that occur.

What I personally like the most about this program is its commitment to emotional education and collective responsibility. I believe many schools here could adapt parts of KiVa to fit their own context and needs.

Web page KiVa

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