Growing violence among Czech schoolchildren
The Czech education authorities are concerned about growing violence among school children. This is a phenomenon which the majority of Czechs tended to ascribe to the United States or, at the most, to Western Europe . But increasingly they are having to face the fact that their own children are far from safe at school. According to the results of a recent poll every second child has experienced some form of bullying. Many children have switched schools in order to escape.
The Czech education authorities are concerned about growing violence among school children. This is a phenomenon which the majority of Czechs tended to ascribe to the United States or, at the most, to Western Europe . But increasingly they are having to face the fact that their own children are far from safe at school. According to the results of a recent poll every second child has experienced some form of bullying. Many children have switched schools in order to escape. Increasingly primary school children bring pocket knives, knuckle dusters and chains to schools - and although psychologists say that they do so in order to show off - there are signals that these weapons ARE being used - to sow fear if for no other reason.
Only this week a thirteen year old boy threatened to kill an eleven year old girl in the playground, holding a knife at her throat, and later did the same to a twelve year old boy. The teachers learned about the incident when a group of children asked them for help, saying they were scared to walk home. The police were called in and ascertained that the boy had a history of bullying and had attacked younger children on many previous occasions. Not so long ago another boy knifed a school mate with a pen-knife, missing vital organs by inches. The aggressor was allegedly a victim of bullying and had decided it was time to take radical action to protect himself.
None of those children informed their parents or teachers about what was going on. Now, teachers are being given training in how to detect the signs of bullying and what to do about it. But the majority of teachers admit that bullying is a problem that is proving hard to tackle. Not least because the majority of teachers in this country are women. Now they face an additional problem. In order to save money many schools have decided to merge smaller classes - which will give class teachers some 30 charges to keep an eye on - and a smaller chance to get to know each child properly.
