Morten Harket: I was circled and beaten up – Aftenbladet.no

Morten Harket: I was circled and beaten up – Aftenbladet.no

– They circled me pathway home and beat me up. In periods could happen daily, told Morten Harket in its strong introduction under government summit against bullying Friday.

Harket attended the meeting along with a number of other people who have been subjected to bullying and representatives of pupils, parents, kindergartens and relevant communities and organizations. The summit marks the start of the government’s efforts against bullying.

– We will use 2015 to realize a boost against bullying, promised Prime Minister Erna Solberg (H). Minister Torbjørn Røe Isaksen (H) says the government’s goal is that bullying numbers should go down year for years to come.

No self

Harket, who has had an adventurous international pop career with the band a- ha and as a solo artist, told the bullying started already in elementary school. The worst was in the years from third grade to sixth grade.

– Today I kept on as an artist for over 30 years. There was little evidence in my childhood, he stated.

He told of an incident where a boy came up to him in the schoolyard. Harket thought the boy was going to ask him something. Instead he got a slap in the face. Boy Gangs followed him, circled him and beat him up regularly.

– I found myself on the outside most of the time, and because I had a completely undermined confidence, so I never had any real grip around it . There was no gunpowder in kicked mine. Although there was no reason for it, because I had the ability, but I had no access to myself. And it is central to what bullying does to you, it undermines the development of your opportunities, he said.

Bitter tears

– Often I went home with bitter tears and was eventually taken over large visions and daydreams. Within me I felt that I was stronger than all the others, and that I came to be there. But I knew at once that it was not now, that I had through long, long laps before it would work out. Had I not had that belief, I do not know what direction this would take, said Harket.

He told simultaneously that nothing prepared him better years in the limelight than the years of bullying.

– For what happens when you end up in the spotlight, is that you in many ways becomes an outcast of society, you are not one of them all. You become that sets you apart. And distinguish myself, I did at the time, he said.

– Bullying is a culture. You must cultivate yourself away from bullying with another culture, was Harket advice when he spoke to the assembly. (© NTB)