Kerameus condemns school attack, case opened
Education Minister Niki Kerameus yesterday condemned the attack on Monday on a teenager by fellow pupils at a high school in Vyronas, eastern Athens.
“The Ministry of Education will be relentless toward such behavior,” Kerameus said during a visit to the school. She said a team of psychologists and social workers would be sent to the school.
The 17-year-old victim was allegedly attacked by six pupils when he tried to confront them for bullying his sister.
“They beat me violently, mercilessly, with hatred. They wanted to kill me,” the victim said.
His lawyer said the assault took place in front of teachers.
Authorities opened a case against six minors who were sent to the prosecutor and then released. Adding to the controversy, some of the assailants posted an Instagram story of themselves inside the police station with a message defending their action.
In a study based on the findings of the 2015 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Greek Dianeosis think-tank found that 16.7 percent of Greek school students have sustained some form of bullying, while 3.4 percent said they had been physically assaulted.
According to the biggest study ever conducted in Greece on bullying – by the Education Ministry in 2016 – elementary school students responded that the most common form of abuse they have faced is verbal (56.5 percent), followed by physical abuse at a rate of 30.5 percent and the threat of social exclusion at 27.8 percent.
