• 08/04/2023
• By wizewebsite
• 670 Views

The principal refused to address the bullying. She claimed that the schoolboy had himself to blame for the attacks<

When the editors of iDNES.cz published the case of Štěpán being bullied, a teacher from the local school contacted her. She tried several times to solve bullying problems in her class herself, but she ran into the principal Eva Březnová.

"I was the class teacher of the class where bullying repeatedly occurred and I had an enormous problem to convince the then headmistress Březnová that we had to do something about it. I was really desperate. When I consulted her on how to prevent bullying, she told me that the boy in my class was to blame. Because he's fat. And that she should lose weight," Turková described her experience.

She also learned that the students who humiliate and beat others are "from better families". On the contrary, according to the director, those whom Turková defended will never transcend their social origins. The teacher also had to endure insinuations from her superior that she does not have a degree in pedagogy, but is an economics engineer with a pedagogical minimum, and therefore does not understand a lot of things.

"It was a recommendation that I should keep quiet and not exaggerate the problems of the pupils, who are to blame for it themselves," Turková specified. According to her, Březnová also believed in the theory that bullying does not exist, that it is a modern term. In fact, "it's like in nature, when males fight for their territory".

The problems of humiliation and violence among children were not addressed even at the pedagogical council. "The female colleagues never said that. The headmistress always wanted to solve it only with the teacher in question, because she didn't want others to know," said Turková.

Inspection revealed misconduct

Not only the overweight boy, but also another boy became the target of bullying. At first, children threw briefcases at him in front of school, so he fell and broke his arm while running away. Later, when he had a cast on his hand, the aggressors pounced on him and beat him savagely. He was repeatedly attacked during breaks. That is why Turková finally decided to report the whole matter to the school inspectorate.

"Based on that, they came, but at the time they only evaluated the director's bad behavior. In order to sweep the problems of bullying off the table, she gathered the bullied and the aggressors and talked with them for about five minutes," Turková described. The inspection assessed her procedure as faulty and gave Turkova the truth that her complaint was justified.

Turková's behavior upset the principal and her two acquaintances, whose descendants tormented their classmates. The principal finally punished the two boys. One of them was reprimanded by the class teacher. The second one should have been reprimanded by the principal, but in the meantime his parents decided it was time to change schools. "It ended up that I was instructed to give the certificate in an envelope to a colleague who delivered it to them. The boy stopped going to school at that time," explained Turková.

Březnová finally finished school this year. It is said that she did not complete the training for directors, which she was supposed to complete according to the law. “I believe that was not the real reason. A well-working director wouldn't be bothered by something like that," said Turková. She also quit school herself, resigned for family reasons.

The editors asked Březnová for a statement, but she refused to communicate. "This is my private email and I consider this mail to be spam," she replied to questions sent.

Expert: Teachers don't know how to maintain good relationships

According to Milan Kotík, the manager of the Bullying Minimization project, this case is not unique. He recalled that even 15 years ago, most schools ignored bullying and claimed it didn't exist. Although, according to him, the situation has improved with the fact that schools have counselors who help teachers, possibly psychologists or special pedagogues, it is still not ideal.

In addition, some schools are said to function the same as they did twenty years ago. According to Kotík, the problem is the current system of teacher education. "Teachers don't know how to set up good relationships in a group. That is, what good relationships are and how to maintain them," explained Kotík.

According to Kotík, of course, some teachers at the university had an experienced teacher who explained everything to them and taught them how to combat bullying. But then, for example, they stumble when trying to apply their knowledge in practice. In fact, schools usually operate in strict order.

The Line for Family and School also helps

In some cases, it can happen that the teachers themselves harm children, according to Kotík. For example, when during an exam they shove in the student's face that he is unprepared again. Classmates may react to this by insulting that he is a jerk. "If the teachers are not really well prepared, then this is the beginning, that is, in mockery or derogatory nicknames. Overall, it is about the ethos of the class, i.e. how we relate to each other. We make fun of each other rather than appreciating each other," said Kotík.

It is also said that bullied children often do not know how to react or how to behave. In addition, humiliation among children increases, so if the teacher does not detect bullying in its infancy, it can then go over his head. According to Kotík, it is also not good when the teacher solves the problem by banning interaction between children in class. In this case, the situation can escalate during the break.

As part of the Minimization of Bullying project, he offers help to schools. It is a two-year intensive program which, in addition to educational courses for teachers, also offers interventions where it is decided what should be done better in the school. They also help schools find funds to pay for the program.

In case of an acute problem, children or their parents can use the free Family and School Line. The methodologist of the line, Jarmila Kubáňová, told iDNES.cz that they are often contacted by parents asking for an investigation of the school, which ignores bullying. However, they do not have any statistics of these calls.

They usually advise parents to contact the founder of the school or the Czech School Inspectorate in a similar case. "According to our experience, parents usually turn to the ČŠI in particular, with whose activities we have thoroughly positive experiences," said Kubáňková.

The inspectorate can submit a proposal for the director's dismissal

Every year, the Czech school inspectorate deals with dozens of notifications about failure to solve bullying problems. In the past school year, there were 72 of them, and the inspection evaluated 23 initiatives as justified. Previous years also show similar numbers, with the exception of the 2015/2016 school year, when there were almost a hundred.

"The issue of bullying is very complex and as a rule individual cases are different, so even the procedures for investigating a complaint must correspond to a specific case," Deputy Central School Inspector Ondřej Andrys told iDNES.cz.

He mentioned that as part of the investigation of the complaint, the inspection is based on the content of the complaint, with which the school director is fully or partially informed. Inspectors also deal with potential bullying actors, rely on interviews with teachers or other school employees, work with school documentation and other information. They then compare and analyze the statements of the interviewees, possibly revealing contradictions between them.

"The inspection team investigating the complaint is interested in the procedures that the school has defined in its documents for similar cases. He compares them with the procedures used by the teacher in the given case, monitors their compliance and evaluates whether they are set up purposefully and applied effectively," Andrys further mentioned.

As part of investigating a complaint, inspectors may visit classrooms and make their own observations. Finally, the inspection will evaluate whether the complaint was justified or not. In some cases, it also fails to prove it.

"The Czech School Inspectorate evaluates and checks school principals during inspection activities. He examines what procedures he used to investigate bullying, whether they were effective, what corrective measures he took, if necessary," stated Andrys. If the inspection finds that the measures taken by the director are not effective and the school management does not take any action, it can initiate criminal proceedings. Alternatively, he can file a motion to dismiss the director.