Pesaro, 23 May 2024 – “The driver has hit a student with a slap in the face then he grabbed him by the collar and spat on him. My daughter got scared, she tried to push him away from her friend and got an elbow near her eye.” It’s the story of the mother of a third grade student middle school of the “Gaudiano” school who from 7 to 9 May took part in a trip to Udine and Trieste, three classes in total for around a hundred 13-year-olds accompanied by teachers. An episode as terrible as it was unexpected which outraged the families of the two children involved to the point that they entrusted the matter to a lawyer.
The mother of the very young, who upon returning from the trip was treated by doctors from the Pesaro emergency room (who gave her a few days’ prognosis) reconstructs what happened. “It was around 11pm when in the school chat I read a message sent by the other boy’s mother asking ‘does anyone know what happened?’. Alarmed by the content of the message and also by the time, I called my daughter. She didn’t answer me directly but rather a friend of hers who told me ‘something happened’. At that point I wanted to speak to her directly and I felt she was shaken, she had had a panic attack and also suffers from asthma. I let the teacher who was next to her pass me by and who was very close to her afterwards and told me to stay calm.” It’s impossible to stay calm, especially with a bad feeling.
“That night I slept very badly and very early the next day I called my daughter back who at that point told me everything.” She told me that the evening before, around 8pm, when they were getting off the bus to go back to the hotel there was actually a lot of confusion on the bus , someone was chanting and others were banging on the overhead compartment. Some students were already outside the bus to collect their luggage and so were the teachers. As soon as the last teacher got off, my daughter told me that the driver got up and, between one swears and the other, he targeted a boy and threatened him with his fist, then he backed away, then thought better of it and slapped him in the face. The boy remained helpless and did not react. The driver also grabbed him by the collar and spat in his face and then he told me that he made a gesture as if to hit him again. In all this she told me that his partner didn’t move. My frightened daughter tried to push him away and got elbowed near her eye. About ten children who had not yet gotten off the bus witnessed the scene and were terrified. It all happened in a very quick time. When the teacher who was downstairs noticed her, she tried to calm everyone down and he apologized. Now the boys are still very upset about what happened. We have received many messages of solidarity from other families and also apologies from the school.”
The trip has endedas expected, on May 9: it was the same driver who accompanied the children on the return journey and, upon arrival, the indignant families eager to receive explanations were waiting for him. “He asked us to apologize – says the young girl’s mother -. But we are very angry and we contact a lawyer.” We also contacted the principal of “Gaudiano” Angela De Marchi who preferred not to comment “I don’t make any statement”. We also contacted the trucking company who told us they were not aware of the matter.
