Attacks on Milazzo and Palermo teachers, Pierro (USR Sicily): “urgent meeting called”

In the last week, two cases of attacks against teachers have occurred in Sicily, the first in Milazzo, in which a student discovers that he has failed and goes to school to beat a teacher with punches and a headbutt, and a second in Palermo, where a student reads the absence from the electronic register, goes to school and slaps the teacher.

The regional school office intervened in the matter. The director, Giuseppe Pierroin a note made it clear what the actions to follow will be.

Here are the director’s statements: “The serious episodes of physical aggression against two teachers, in Milazzo (in a technical-economic institute) and in Palermo (in a scientific high school) are only the latest in a long list of equally deplorable events that have occurred in Sicily and the rest of Italy. The problem is therefore widespread. So much so that in the first months of this year we requested the intervention of the Minister of Education Valditara who highlighted the importance of considering the school institution as an injured party in similar cases, underlining the damage to its image suffered”. “The data speaks of 36 cases in our country in the last school year – he continues – and from September to today no less than thirty. Numbers that deserve attention from society as a whole. There is no doubt that we are witnessing a deterioration in the relationship between school and family. This is demonstrated by the increase in attacks by parents against teachers. The latest case in Sicily, in chronological order, occurred in Milazzo a few days ago. I have already expressed my closeness and solidarity with the two teachers attacked by one of their students. The Regional School Office for Sicily is reporting all cases to the Ministry of Education so that the victims can be assured the support they deserve as provided for by the recently adopted regulations.

And he concludes: “I have also decided to urgently and extraordinarily convene a meeting with the representatives of Forags, the regional Forum of school parents’ associations in Sicily, and the representatives of the regional guarantee body established at the USR. It is the first step of a deeper journey of reflection and awareness on the school-family co-responsibility pact which cannot be ignored if one wants to prevent harmful conflicts“.

Also the senator of the Brothers of Italy Ella Bucalo, member of the Senate culture commission and deputy head of the Party’s Education Department, commented on the episodes of violence: “The events that occurred in Milazzo and Palermo where two teachers were physically attacked forcefully shines a spotlight on the increasingly frequent perpetration of episodes of violence to the detriment of school staff. Cases, unfortunately not isolated, which are spreading like wildfire and in which it is necessary to intervene immediately, first of all by restoring authority to the figure of the teachers, who are often delegitimized and intimidated. The children must then reflect on the consequences of their actions. To this end, a fundamental tool is the conduct voting reform, currently undergoing final approval in the Chamber, which effectively gives weight back to student behavior in the overall evaluation and makes social solidarity activities mandatory for those who commit illicit acts. We must intervene not only by acting on a cultural level on the children, but also on the families in an attempt to mend that alliance, that pact, which is the basis of every educational project. Impunity does not benefit children, families or educational institutions.”