Novo Vemić from Nikšić claims that his son, an eighth-grade student at the "Mileva Lajović Lalatović" school, suffered verbal and physical violence from RR, the parents of his child's school friend.
The incident happened on Monday, April 23, in the hallway of the school, and Vemic reported the case to the police. He addressed both the school and the Ministry of Education.
"I ask them to answer only one question - whether my child can safely come to school in the future. It is incomprehensible that something similar can happen in any school in Montenegro. It is also incomprehensible that something similar can happen in front of all the employees", said Vemić.
He said that he was informed about the incident by his class teacher.
"The first classmate called me to tell me that the father of my son's school friend came because of some problem that happened on Saturday. I asked if it was urgent and if I could come tomorrow, since I'm at work, and if he could text me the phone number of that parent to call him, because my son didn't tell me that something happened on Saturday... If my son has sinned to apologize to that man and his child".
After that call, about fifteen minutes later, the class teacher called him again, he claims, to tell him that RR had hit his son and that he was "getting his hands off him".
“I was shocked. I immediately went to school, where the class teacher waited for me and told me that my son was with the pedagogue who asked him to write a statement. A child who has been hit, under stress, should write a statement about what happened. She said this is a case for the police," he pointed out. Vemic said that he, his son and the class teacher gave the statement to the police. He said that he was “guilty that the class teacher changed his statement, saying that he saw RR holding his son's hand.
"He did not say that he took his hands off him and that he separated them. On Tuesday, I went to the director and told her in writing what had happened on vacation and that they had not taken any action. She told me that she found out about the incident that morning. She also told me that I could have slapped any child after reporting to the students on duty. "I was speechless and asked if the school was safe," claims Vemic.
The director of the school, Vera Božović, said that they did everything required by law in the event of violence in the school.
"After this unfortunate event, which we could not have predicted, the head of the department called the parent of the RV student, while the pedagogue reported the case to the police. The first reaction was the school, not the parent of the RV student, which shows that one cannot talk about lack of promptness and cover-up," said Božović.
The incident, allegedly due to which RR hit Vemić's son, happened on Saturday, April 21, which was a working day.
"There were five students in the class, four boys and one girl, so the teacher, who was a trainee, told them that they were not going to do anything, but to talk freely. The two boys were teasing RR's son a little more harshly and my son was laughing at the jokes. These two boys will confirm this with the police," said Vemic.
He said that his son's class was "the worst discipline in the school" and that the pedagogue suggested that one parent be present every day.
“On Monday it was the mother of the boy whose father hit my son. Until the fourth class, she did not complain to the principal, class teacher, or pedagogue, that someone had teased her son on Saturday, that after the fourth class, her husband would come and first verbally, and then physically attack my son. He threatened him that this was his last warning and that he would come to his house".
Vemić asked the school and the Ministry of Education to inform him in writing of what they had taken over. He did not meet with RR and says he does not want to.
"If he thinks that something happened on Saturday, he should have reported it to the school or me, and not to behave violently. "If everyone is talking about violence against children, let's see what they will do this time", concludes Vemić.
Božović: We do not expect parents to endanger students
The director of the school, Vera Božović, said that, after the activities carried out and the evidence collected, they did everything required by law in the event of violence in the school.
"After this unfortunate event, which we could not foresee, we reacted urgently and in accordance with the law. The head of the department called the parent of student RV, while the pedagogue reported the case to the police. The first reaction was the school, not the parent of the RV student, which clearly shows that one cannot talk about lack of promptness and cover-up", said Božović.
According to her, all educational and pedagogical measures were taken - an extraordinary meeting of parents, an extraordinary session of the departmental council, an extraordinary meeting of the team for prevention and action in cases of violence at school, taking the statements of all teachers who may have information relevant to the case. All the mentioned documents were scanned and given to the Minister of Education, Damir Šehović.
"No one can expect that the parents of students enter the school in order to endanger them in any way and that they will not respect the school as an educational institution, but also the second home of their children. The opinion that parents and teachers set an example for children with their behavior is strongly condemned by the school team every kind of violent behavior in the hope that a similar incident will not happen again, because there are no problems that cannot be overcome if we all work together, and for the benefit of the children", concluded Božović.
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