Fights in schools and schoolyards, threats, violence among peers... these are topics that fill the columns of the Montenegrin media for months, reserved for the black chronicle. And while the public notices the escalation of peer violence, the authorities say that the media is partly responsible for it - devoting considerable attention to the problem.
On Friday, May 12, the Montenegrin Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that official police statistics did not record an increase in peer violence, but that in the last few months the public has been occupied with numerous cases.
They announced this after the constitutive meeting of the Ministry of Interior's Working Team for Suppression of Peer Violence, which was formed on the initiative of the minister, held the day before. Filip Adžić.
They also pointed out that this team was formed "due to the expressed media perception of an increase in the number of acts with elements of peer violence, expressed public concern and proposals submitted by the NGO sector to undertake increased activities within the competence of the Ministry with an appeal to protect children".
Although there has been talk for more than a decade about the return of police officers to schoolyards, the Ministry of Internal Affairs once again concluded that it is necessary to take further measures to strengthen the personnel capacities of the Police Directorate, consider the format and the possibility of restarting the "Community Policeman" project...
The "school policeman" project, during which a policeman was present in each educational institution every day to supervise the children, thereby reducing the chances of violence among them, was "finished" a decade and a half ago. It lasted from 2005 to 2008, and a few years after the "school policeman" stopped monitoring students, in 2015 the Ministry of Education initiated the formation of a Working Group whose task was to implement the "School security guard" project.
However, the project to improve school safety never took off.
On the official website of the Private Institution "Urban Protection Training Center Montenegro", it is written that they conceived the project "Protection in School", for which they received the support of the Ministry of Education. They announced this seven years ago, stating that through research they found data that peer violence has become alarming and is constantly increasing.
"We will form an elite unit that will be ready at any moment to adequately detect all forms of peer violence and to react and deliver information to the Teachers' Council in a timely manner, in accordance with the project plan. The elite unit of security guards will implement prevention activities through the aspect of security and general social good and prosperity", they presented their plan back in July 2016.
To date, the Ministry of Education has not implemented that project.
In mid-March 2023, the principal of Podgorica Elementary School "21. may" Beautiful Furtula. She did this after the third published case of peer violence in just ten days.
Her appeal was also supported by the non-governmental organization Action for Human Rights (HRA), where they said at the time that the introduction of a school police officer would contribute to preventing unwanted incidents, ensuring the safety of children, suppressing crime in the school environment and strengthening the role of the police in preventing violence.
"Schools must be a safe place for all children, not a source of physical and psychological trauma," HRA said at the time.
The policemen, however, have not yet returned to the courtyards of Montenegrin schools.
This was not done even after the tragedy in Belgrade, after which Montenegrin elementary school students began to threaten a crime or glorify a thirteen-year-old mass murderer.
The most alarming cases were in Spuz and Žabljak, but neither the girl from the Elementary School "Njegoš" in Spuz and the student of the Mixed Secondary School in Žabljak will be held accountable, according to the prosecutor.
According to the knowledge of the Vijesti, the elementary school student from Spuž made a list of the classes of that school with the indicated time of action, and on the map she circled the office of the director of that educational institution and wrote: "Murder" next to it.
Allegedly, she also wrote on the list what kinds of weapons she would use.
The police did not find the list of students, but they did find the maps that the girl made, about which the prosecutor's office and the Center for Social Work were informed.
In another case, a high school student from Žabljak supported a crime in Belgrade on a social network, which is why the local police reacted. The prosecutor assessed that the teenager had not committed any criminal offense and did not order his arrest.
In Montenegro, 37 elementary and five secondary schools do not have psychological-pedagogical workers, the ministry announces changes to the regulations in order to increase the number of both psychologists and pedagogues.
Serbia: When arsonists put out the fire with gasoline
The teacher, who is shared by the Elementary School "Vladislav Ribnikar" and "Jovan Miodragović", has spent the past months in the enrollment of champions. She had little time for other work, and about a thousand students from "Rubnikar" and half as many from "Miodragović" had to look elsewhere for a solution to their problems. Even after traumatic experiences like the one a sixth grader had on a winter vacation organized by the school when another boy, known for his "excesses", seriously hurt him - not only physically, since a stick stuck in the butt means a much scarier experience and message than the fight itself - and the school did everything to sweep the case under the carpet.
Both schools are in Vračar, in the elite part of Belgrade, and if a KK student hadn't killed seven girls, one boy and a janitor in "Ribnikar" last Wednesday, May 3, there wouldn't have been a single word about "elite" violence.
The fact that one of the mentioned schools is named after the famous pedagogue is interesting Jovan Miodragović Riplijevski, because psychologists and pedagogues are decimated in the education system of Serbia as "expensive". Rulebook on the standards of financing of primary education institutions in Article 10 states that a school with seven or fewer classes has 0,5 executors in the work of a professional associate, namely a pedagogue or psychologist, and a school with eight to 23 classes has one executor in the work of a professional associate - which means that according to the norms, "Miodragović" would have to have a full pedagogue, and Ribnikar" both a pedagogue and a psychologist.
But it's not just about the number, but the long list of obligations they have, very bureaucratic. If it wasn't like that, maybe someone would find out why KK asked to be transferred to another department and why he had problems communicating with other children.
And maybe, if the psychologist and the pedagogue could do their work in peace, they would have time to see what is bothering the quiet and reserved students! Because unnatural peace can be more dangerous than severe unrest.
"A psychologist is primarily oriented towards working with students, although he also works with teachers and parents. Work with parents and teachers is again focused on students, that is, their needs. A psychologist actually helps teachers and parents to recognize and understand these needs, in order to provide them with the best possible support," he tells Today Ivana Stepanović Ilić from the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade
A psychologist works with students individually and in groups: "For example, gifted students require a specific approach and adaptation of teaching work. A psychologist can also help students with learning difficulties. He is the one who recognizes the type of problem and, depending on that, can work independently or in a team with a pedagogue or speech therapist with a specific student and his teachers".
A psychologist can be engaged in various tasks. Sometimes it is working with students who are withdrawn and have difficulty establishing more stable social relationships with their peers. He can help students from dysfunctional families: "If there is a social worker in the school, that job would be easier for him, since both profiles of experts could be engaged in this problem."
For students who are in the period of adolescence, a psychologist can help them cope more easily with the challenges that age brings. There is professional orientation and everything else aimed at providing equal opportunities to different students. And group work in which a psychologist is involved is aimed at a larger number of students and can be educational in nature, for example in the form of lectures and workshops dedicated to different topics.
"This is just a sketch of everything that a psychologist is engaged in, and already based on it it is quite clear that, despite the mentioned 'spreading of influence', it is a big and very responsible task. That is why it is important that there is a psychologist in every school, but also that the school climate is such that the administration and teachers provide him with active support. Although it may seem that all this is impossible to achieve, there are many of my colleagues in schools who do it day in and day out, and the secret is to be in constant contact with the students", adds our firefighter and cites the example of a retired colleague. Branka Tisma who stands at the door of the school for days every September, welcoming the champions and visiting them during classes, so that they would notice and recognize her as a figure who is always there for them.
When asked what is most important for the proper development of children, what can be provided to them outside the home, but also how to properly direct them at home to grow with as little trauma as possible, the psychologist, with the fence that it is possible to write more studies, says that after this tragedy "most of us know the answer".
"The Institute of Psychology of the Faculty of Philosophy found in a study that the school and the family delegated their primary roles to each other. The school expects the parents to study with their children, and the family expects the school to educate their children. Since then, everything has atrophied. The key systems of society are so destroyed, and the values that are promoted every day are so wrong, that it is unrealistic to expect that the school and the environment in which children grow up will remain untouched," he explains.
And he adds that society needs radical changes, otherwise all the interventions that we as psychologists are engaged in these days will remain short-lived or their effects will be much less intense than we would like.
The "It's not philosophical to be silent" initiative, which has been warning about the problems of violence in public sessions for a long time, announces that it is working to "return safety to schools and society, one of the important tasks is paying extra attention to peer violence."
He also mentions one of the "firefighting" solutions that, along with the doubling of the number of school police officers, have been resorted to these days - a letter from the police to schools to report "problematic students" as a measure that can only have negative consequences for children, parents, schools and society.
Of particular importance is directing the attention of the public, especially children, to the victims - not by publicly presenting disturbing information, as the first policeman in Belgrade did. Veselin Milić by the list of children scheduled for liquidation drawn up by the KK - already in the way emphasized by the president of the Association of Psychologists of Serbia, professor Tamara Dzamonja Ignjatović, as a warning about what happens to children and people exposed to violence. Because everyone in a society of violence can be a victim, and if he is not helped - a bully.
As a first measure, the state undertook the voluntary disarmament of the illegally armed, without explaining that this had not been done so far, as in the case UB (21) who owned an arsenal of automatic weapons, with which he killed eight young people less than two days after the nine-fold murder in "Ribnikar", near Belgrade.
There is still no answer to the question of when schools will add more experts, how to help teachers who - due to their social position and miserable salaries - are recruited from the ranks of those who cannot find a better job, what about politically eligible directors who are "responsible" for work. only to their own party, even when they are visited by proven criminals, as recently Christian Golubovic in one school.
And, of course, why does the government nurture the media, which are mental poison tanks, and promote their work with guest appearances in which even the highest state officials do not choose their words, but literally incite people against each other. Which, one way or another, through the airwaves or through social networks, reaches children who then become a model of behavior.
The answer to the question from our topic can be, as Stepanović Ilić said, more studies. And it can be the simplest - no one or at least few, and often those who shouldn't. For example, the Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, long recognized as her party's attacker against dissidents, who will lead the newly formed working group for the prevention of peer violence. Which is literally the same as when an arsonist puts out a fire. Gasoline!
Croatia: The horror in Belgrade started the process
Until the horrific massacre of the 13-year-old boy who killed his school friends and the security guard of the Belgrade school, the Croatian Minister of Education Radovan Fuchs he was convinced that schools in Croatia are safe places, in which the mostly seen American scenarios cannot happen, but after the events in Serbia, Croatia formed a working group that, in cooperation with the MUP, as announced by the Ministry, carry out a safety assessment in each school.
Croatian schools, as their biggest support in the formation of security, see preventive programs, which are often carried out, but also the idea of finally forming support centers with experts that would be available to schools, and whose establishment should be defined by a new law that should be adopted by the end of the year. Namely, Croatian schools do not have security guards, they do not plan or think about installing metal detectors at the entrances, principals independently decide whether and when to close school doors, and cities themselves finance cameras at schools. For example, in Zagreb alone, 150 primary and secondary schools have installed video surveillance as one of the models for protecting the school building, but entrances to most schools across the country are secured by non-teaching school staff who are primarily employed in other workplaces within the school - not as entrance security guards to schools.
Thus, a terrible event from Serbia has once again opened up the question of the need to employ psychologists as professional associates of Croatian schools in Croatia, and since there is no interested workforce in those positions, willing to work for wages in the school, Croatia has a plan to form centers in cities whose experts would be at the disposal of nearby schools, although no one clarifies whether psychologists in the centers will then be offered a higher salary.
Currently, in numerous preventive programs, many schools cooperate with numerous associations and experts in various fields, and only in the City of Zagreb, preventive programs against any form of violence are implemented in cooperation with the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation, the Luka Ric Counseling Center, the Polyclinic for the Protection of Children and Youth, the Educational Institute for Public Health "Dr. Andrija Štampar, the Center for Youth Health, the Zagreb Police Department, civil society organizations and others, through whose programs 10 thousand children went through last year alone.
After the horrific event, Croatian Minister Radovan Fuchs sent a letter to all schools in Croatia reminding principals, teachers and professors to pay special attention to children who have changed their behavior in any way, those who have difficulty socializing, or those who are known to be problematic and to strengthen communication with parents and jointly find ways to solve the problems faced by children.
Among other things, a new subject, as well as cross-curricular content that emphasizes the development of empathy, prevention of discrimination on any basis, and prevention of any form of violence, was and will be introduced into the educational system in the fall. Many schools in Croatia, by the decision of their principals, but not by the national recommendation, decided in earlier years to ban students from bringing mobile phones to school - some are already in their seventh year of such a decision, such as Novska Primary School, whose parents protested at first, but now they don't even have phones. subject of discussion. Students do not wear them to class, and thus at least during school time they are isolated from the influence of social networks.
Many schools, that is, many principals, are now considering setting such a school rule themselves. And while Croatia is waiting for an analysis of the security of all schools, Minister Fuchs called on schools to do everything in their power to improve the safety of students - locking the school entrance for the duration of classes, illuminating hidden and impenetrable corners of the school...
BiH: Children are getting louder, but no one hears them
Children in schools feel more or less safe, at least physically, but it bothers them that no one asks them anything. Because they treat them as if they are not the main participants in the educational process. And they lack the little things, to see them as people, and not as a field in a diary that needs to be filled in by a certain date.
"I feel safe at school, but I think that everyone should be more dedicated to the mental health of each individual and that conversations should be initiated by the class, rather than waiting for the child to speak," he told us. Adem Pašić, student of the High School for Environment and Wood Design from Sarajevo.
Children are waiting for someone to notice them, ask them, hear them. And that, for the most part, no one hears them, testify from organizations that deal with mental health protection. In the Menssan Association, they claim that every week at least one new child comes in who is dissatisfied with the treatment in schools.
Mostly, these are the expected problems of socialization and acceptance by parents and the environment, but pedagogues or psychologists in schools do not put it at the level of discretion and dedication that children need, they claim from Mensana and emphasize that the situation in schools depends on the school and the structure of the hierarchy that is established by the director, and all schools should have the same principle of action regarding peer violence, concluded Menssana.
They have similar experiences in the Wings of Hope Foundation.
"Violence within schools is prevalent and it is important to be aware of it and act accordingly. Many preventive programs have been developed, but too much attention is focused on protocols and administrative procedures, and we forget the children", said the expert team of the Wings of Hope Foundation.
We learned from the Federation of Primary Education and Training Union - Cantonal Committee of KS that the physical protection of students in schools is taken care of by students and workers, as well as parents of students and police officers, upon request. Most schools in the FBiH do not have adequate video surveillance.
"There are not enough pedagogues and psychologists in schools in FBiH, and even if there were, the situation would not drastically improve. Educators and psychologists can provide students with a certain type of psychological security, but they cannot completely solve the problem of psychological and physical insecurity of students. It is necessary for teachers to free themselves from the quasi-reforms that turn them into scribes and to once again become educators and pedagogues, and only then teachers," he said. Saudi Silver President of the Trade Union.
This is the situation in schools for years. Despite the numerous warnings of parents, teachers, the cries of children who increasingly seek psychological support, get sick, including those who have decided to end their lives, the system responds occasionally, with letters in which there is no child, no heart, no soul. And precisely the lack of heart, soul, empathy is the cause of all problems.
After the tragedy in Belgrade, the Minister of Education and Culture of the RS Željka Stojičić she spoke with the active presidents of primary and secondary school principals in the RS about the state, conditions and working methods of educational institutions from the aspect of security.
"The active presidents of primary and secondary school principals will organize meetings with all school principals and gather all the necessary information with the aim of analyzing the situation in schools and with the aim of proposing concrete measures that will contribute to the improvement of safety and security in schools, is one of the conclusions of the meeting," he explained. is Mario Ćumurović, head of the Public Relations Department of the Government of RS. In FBiH, the cantons react in their own way, with letters, orders, parent meetings.
"In schools where there is no day and night guard, security and order and peace in the school are taken care of, first of all, by the teaching and other school staff, and the measures taken to ensure the safety of students in the school are taken care of by the school management body, i.e. . director, we learned from the Ministry of Education and Science of the FBiH, from where they told us numerous measures and activities undertaken in the previous period by the Federal and Cantonal Ministries of Education, primarily for the purpose of preventing the occurrence of peer-to-peer and other forms of violence against students.
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