The incidents of violence with violent minors increasingly see the light of day. Since the beginning of the school year, the phenomenon seems to have intensified, causing concern to teachers, as well as the Ministry of Education.

“The frequency and intensity of the phenomena of intra-school violence is very troubling to us and requires us, as the political leadership of the Ministry of Education, to take drastic measures to prevent and deal with it in the school environment”, he said, speaking to APE-MPE the Deputy Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, Zetta Makri.

“We want our schools to be safe for all students and will implement all necessary measures to protect the school community,” he pointed out.

The deputy minister described the phenomenon of intra-school violence and its spread as “worrying” and emphasized that the ministry’s action is multi-level:

“The platform stop-bullying.gov.gr for the registration of complaints from parents and students, the doubling of psychologists and social workers in schools, the institutionalization of the school life consultant, the training of 150,000 teachers, the strengthening of supporting agencies with an increase in their total budget by 152%, the cooperation with competent authorities agencies for targeted interventions in schools, the inclusion of principles and values ​​in the teaching of our children, such as respect, tolerance, diversity, etc. through the Skills Workshops, the implementation of the new Study Programs and the Active Citizen actions, are our weapons to prevent and deal with bullying”.

In particular, regarding the stop-bullying.gov.gr platform, according to the ministry’s data, from September 1 to 19, 27 complaints have already been made, 12 from parents and 15 from students.

The most recent measure taken by the Ministry of Education is the tightening in dealing with the phenomenon of the use of mobile phones in the school environment, which, as Ms. Makri, “is connected in many cases to manifestations of intra-school violence and bullying, through a defined and structured framework of consequences”.

“The conspicuous possession and use of cell phones even during recess is strictly prohibited and the penalties will be severe for students who photograph, tape or videotape their classmates or teachers inside the school, ranging from a one-day suspension to a five-day suspension.” and in changing the school environment for children who violated the personal data of their classmates”, explained Ms. Long.

OLME: The measures are in the right direction

“Violence in schools exists, but we believe that banning the use of cell phones is in the right direction, because this way the visibility of violence might be limited,” noted the president of OLME. Theodoros Tsouchlosspeaking to APE-MPE.

He estimated, however, that with this measure, the violence goes outside the walls of the school. “The role of the school is specific and pedagogical. We can hold discussions, transfer knowledge, but that’s all. We need an integrated framework of support for both teachers and society, in order to resolve this phenomenon, which is also valuable” , he noted.

The holistic support of the school, the “key”

The answer to violence is the creation of a holistic support framework for the educational community, students, teachers and infrastructure, according to Ms. Korina Hatzinikolaouassistant professor of developmental psychopathology at AUTH.

“The escalation of the phenomena of violence is simple mathematics: this generation was born in the midst of the crisis, with parents of the generation of 700 euros and they have lived through the pandemic, where incidents of domestic violence intensified”, explained Ms. Hatzinikolaou.

As he noted, the holistic support of the school is the answer: “supporting the teachers, supporting the children and improving the infrastructure and a framework of actions in general that will bring a feeling of security, is the key to see a reversal of the phenomenon”, he concluded .