Breadcrumb
Navigation Menu
Bullying at school can be a crime
Bullying at school can be a crime
A nasty phenomenon in the school world is bullying. Bullying comes in many forms. It can be mental violence by shutting someone out of a group, name-calling, or physical violence.
Nowadays bullying often occurs through phones or other messaging devices. A child’s photos can be distributed publicly, or they can receive bullying messages. This is particularly damaging to a child because they can quickly become the laughingstock of thousands of people. This is why parents must not underestimate bullying in social media.
Sometimes bullying is a crime and it should be reported to the police. Crime categories related to bullying are assault, defamation, dissemination of information violating personal privacy and menace.
What to do if you encounter bullying?
Bring things up bravely with the child. Ask about their school life. Pay attention if something changes in the child’s behaviour. Intervene in bullying as soon as possible.
Mediation between home, school and the parties is the primary method to solve bullying cases. You can get mediation help from a local mediation office even if it is not a crime yet.
If lighter measures do not help or bullying gets worse, report the offence to the police. In some cases, the offence must be reported immediately, of course.
If you get bullied:
- Do not go along with name-calling.
- Block the bully in different services and report the bullying to administrators.
- Keep the bully’s messages, because they can serve as evidence in the matter if you have to report an offence.
- Tell your parents or teacher about it and try mediation.
- Parents can also contact the bully’s parents directly.
Nettineuvoja koululaiselle -haitarin johdanto -en
FAQ
Below you will find answers to schoolchildren’s and parents’ frequently asked questions about the internet, social media and messaging apps.
Koulukiusaaminen-ankkuri-UKK
Private messages in social media services, emails, text messages and other private messages are primarily confidential. The messages are covered by the principle of confidentiality, even when they have been sent to a child.
If parents are worried about a child's wellbeing, they have the right to read the child's private messages under certain circumstances. The police recommend that you discuss the matter with the child openly and ask for the child's permission to read the messages.
Identity theft is a crime when certain prerequisites are met, so every fake profile is not a criminal matter. An identity theft is a crime if a person poses as another real person to mislead a third party. A crime also requires financial damage or more than minor damage to the victim. The best and often only way to remove a fake profile is to contact the administrators of the service in question and ask them to remove the profile.
Contact the service administrators. Different services provide different means of regaining your profile. The police cannot help you in this matter.
If the photos are not sensitive and he/she has a copyright to the photos, he/she is allowed to publish them.
The police cannot remove the materials. The most efficient way of proceeding is to contact the service administrator. If the matter meets the definition of an offence, you can report an offence. If the materials are located on a Finnish server, it can be removed under a court order. In the case of foreign websites, we recommend that you contact the website administrators directly.
If the threat is acute, call 112. In a non-urgent situation, you can send the police a tip through the online tip-off form or feedback form.
The police do not collect information on scam letters or spam. If you have lost property, report an offence online on the police website, or by visiting the nearest police station.
Begin by using the blocking function provided by the service and report the matter to the administrators. If the harassment continues, you can contact the police. When you report the matter, write a short description of what has been done and by whom. When you provide materials to the police, clearly indicate the parts you wish us to look at. If possible, provide screen captures of what happened. Also provide us with direct links to the profiles of those involved in the matter.
In the first instance, you should report offensive materials to the Facebook administrator. In very serious cases, you can also contact the police. Such groups are often set up to provoke people and gain as much attention as possible. You should not like or follow the group, share it or comment on it because this will only give it more attention. This is exactly what the people behind the group want.