A gang called School

 

The aggressive attack of a pupil on her teacher due to an argument over the student’s mobile phone during a French lesson has brought the fact of violence in schools to the forefront. One report claims that a teacher is assaulted every day in the school environment, either by pupils and/or the parents or guardians of children.

 

By Nuno Mendes, Translation by Fiona Perris

 

Recently the country has been watching the stand-off between teachers and the Education Minister due to the new system of evaluation for teachers proposed by the government. The Minister seems to be succumbing to pressure and is apparently considering the introduction of the system only in the new school year.

Then, all of a sudden, media attention was diverted to a film that appeared on YouTube, the most popular video site on the internet. The press discovered the video that had been posted on the site which showed the interior of a classroom at the Carolina Michaelis secondary school in Porto and a student grabbing her teacher and shouting at her to give her mobile phone back. The 48-second video shows how the corpulent 15 year old girl intimidates her teacher in her attempt to reclaim her telephone from her teacher’s grasp. The student who filmed the episode on his own mobile phone can be heard laughing and directing other students to keep out of the way of the image and not to get involved in the argument. The film was taped on the last day of class before the Easter holidays and was shown on Portuguese television one week later when it was

discovered on YouTube. Reactions to the images have been varied but leaving most people with mouths dropped open in astonishment that such violence exists in the classroom. A few days after the news hit the headlines the State Prosecutor (PGR), Pinto Monteiro, asked for more authority to be attributed to teachers. In reply to Monteiro’s request the Secretary of State for Education noted that violence in schools is down to factors outside of the establishment and that schools have systems in place to deal with these problems.

 

Complaints and transfers

Just before classes were to begin again after Easter, on March 28, it was decided that the girl who attacked her teacher be transferred to another school, in other words expelled, the maximum penalty under the Student’s Charter. The mother of the girl told the Diário das Notícias newspaper that she was shocked with her daughter’s behaviour and completely agrees with the transfer to another school, although she makes a point of saying that her daughter regrets her behaviour and is suffering.

 

In the meantime, the teacher has lodged three distinctly different complaints with the judicial authorities. One with the State Prosecutor lodged at the Court of Families and Minors Porto against the student. Another lodged at the same Court but a civil case against the rest of the children in the class. Later she also made a complaint at the Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DIAP) against those students in the class who are over 16 years old and can, therefore, take responsibility for their actions.

 

On the same day, as the decision was made for the guilty pupil’s further education, during the fortnightly debate in parliament, Paulo Portas, leader of the CDS-PP and one who is for the criminalisation of acts of violence in school, confronted José Sócrates with the case set out here. The Prime Minister replied that he believed in a country “in which the teacher is valued and in which the teacher has a socially prestigious role, as only then can we have a society of knowledge”. Sócrates went on to accuse Portas: “In the face of these lamentable images, the first thing that occurs [to the CDS-PP] is to criticise the government and consider that the Minister of Education is at fault with regards to an act of indiscipline”. The day after the parliamentary session the student who filmed the incident was also transferred to another school.

 

Crime or not?

The following Monday, March 31, classes began again after the Easter holidays but the subject still dominated the television news headlines. The Regional Director of Education in the North called for all teachers at the Carolina Micaelis school to reflect on the incident with their students. The executive board of the school declared zero tolerance with regard to mobile phones; any such technology found on students in the classroom would be confiscated and later returned to the students’ parents. The Students’ Association at the school have called for the subject to be dropped by the media in order that the school can return to normal. Parents have asked for
the same.

 

On April 1, Ana Tomás de Almeida, a professor at the Institute of Child Studies at the Minho University and author of various studies relating to violence in schools, told the Público newspaper that to “criminalise pupils’ bad behaviour makes no sense” as it puts into question the authority of the schools. The resolution of such problems should be up to the schools and they even have “the instruments to control these acts”, the expert added.

The question remains: should violence in schools be classified as a criminal offence or not?

 

No protection from the boss

The Observatório da Segurança em Meio Escolar (Observatory for Security in Schools) published, at the end of last year, the latest figures relating to violence in schools. One hundred and eighty-five aggressive acts against teachers were registered in the 2006/2007 school year. Taking into account that the school year has 180 days, on average, a teacher is abused daily. Other school employees also are victims of attacks. In the same period 147 attacks on secondary personnel were reported. Violence between the pupils offers another perspective and these numbers far exceed those above.

As is happening in the Carolina Micaelis case, the State Prosecutor also wants to bring another three cases of violence to trial, all occurring between September and October last year in the Greater Lisbon area. All concern cases where parents or guardians have assaulted teachers or other school employees.

 

Armanda Zenhas, a specialist in Psychology Training for Teachers, a teacher herself and an advocate that “all situations of aggression” should be reported, as well as “making use of all the resources at the disposal of the teachers”, tells the following stories which can be seen at www.educare.pt.

 

“Tomé was a victim of bullying in his school having been frequently subjected to physical abuse from his peers. The situation was only discovered, by both the parents and the school, when he ended up in hospital with a serious injury, and even then he would not tell who was responsible and what they had done.

“Tiago and Bruno got into a fight. The next day, Tiago’s father waited for Bruno at the school gates, subsequently assaulting him.

 

“Susana, a teacher at a school, passed by a pupil during the recreational break and noticed that he was being assaulted by another student with a bottle. When confronted by the teacher, the boy tried to flee but Susana held onto his shirt preventing his escape. Unable to get away the boy hit the teacher with the bottle and his fists, with force and repeatedly, until the teacher let go. The next day the mother of the bully waited for the teacher at the school gates. Luckily she could not find Susana.

 

“Francisco, the coordinator of a first grade school, explained to the guardian of a pupil, in accordance with the internal rules and regulations of the school, that she must leave her children at the door of the school and not enter into the premises. The woman insisted and kept bringing her children to the door of the classroom, even after various warnings and only desisting after the police were called. In reprisal the father of the child began to threaten the teacher’s family, finally entering the school and physically assaulting Francisco.”

 

These are real stories which demonstrate what is occurring in Portuguese schools. The violence exists and can affect all those in school: students, teachers, auxiliary staff and parents. Armanda Zenhas, herself a victim of  aggression was revolted when she understood that the complaint she had made with the school’s executive board was not enough to open a process and that she herself had to file a complaint with the local police. “Me, a civil servant in a public school, doing my work, am injured and threatened and my boss, the state, will not take the initiative to protect me?” she asks. “As not everyone can take the difficult step to go to the police and present a complaint, maintaining their silence in many cases, the feeling of impunity grows among the culprits”.

 

What do you think about this situation? Should violence in schools be treated as a criminal offence? Do you know of any cases of violence in schools? Write to the editor