Sunday, November 06, 2005

Schoolchildren robbed and battered

Violence is an increasing problem in Scandinavian schools, especially in urban areas such as Malmö, Copenhagen or Oslo:

Schoolchildren robbed and battered

Going to school is no child's game for many children in Copenhagen, where beatings, kicks, robberies, and threats are everyday occurences, a new study of juvenile crimes in the city revealed. Daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten reported on Friday that one in six children in grades 4-9 had been victim of serious violence, and one in three had been robbed. The perpetrators were normally their own age. 'This is entirely unacceptable. We need to ensure that school staff get the education they need to be better at handling conflicts and pass on the knowledge to children. They should be included in the problems' solutions, and their parent's should be involved, too,' said Per Bregengaard of the Red-Green Alliance, city councillor in charge of education and juvenile affairs. Educating teachers and students in conflict solving is an expensive affair, and Bregengaard said DKK 10-15 million needed to be allotted in 2006 if the problem was to be solved.

Pia Allerslev, Liberal councillor in the city's educational committee, said she agreed that more funds were needed to solve the problem, but said much of it could be blamed on Bregengaard's policy. 'The study's results are just as shocking as we had feared. It goes to show that the left wing's spineless policy has failed completely,' she said. Allerslev added that more discipline and consequence was needed to fight violence and crime amongst schools' students.'Schools have so many sanction possibilities, which they rarely use. We should implement zero-tolerance towards behaviour of that sort in Copenhagen's schools, just as we know from Århus. It's about sending out the signal that we won't put up with just anything,' Allerslev said.

Jihad in Swedish Schools

Violence and threats pose such a big problem in high schools in Malmö, that the local school board wants to install surveillance cameras and security guards in the buildings. The plans, which are to be carried out next fall, include tougher control of students’ comings and goings, and equipping school staff with security buttons, so that they can alert security guards if they are attacked. The city’s education director Matz Nilsson said unruly and aggressive students had become a more common sight in the high schools of Malmö, the home of some of Scandinavia’s biggest and roughest slums. School officials said both violence and illegal drug abuse had increased among Malmö’s high school students in recent years. Student representatives said they were ambiguous about the tougher security measures. Linus Hulterström at the Jörgen Kocks High School said the schools needed more safety measures. ‘Many people come here just to sell drugs,’ he said. It happens out in the open.’ Malmö’s high school reported 125 students to the police last year, compared with 71 in 2003.

Oslo: Police raid local high school

Oslo police raided the Sogn High School on Friday, and it was no April Fool's joke. The raid was sparked by the discovery of a cache of drugs at the school just before Easter. Around 60 police officers took part in the raid, both in uniforms and civilian clothes. A contingent of around 30 police in uniform formed a ring around the campus in west Oslo, to search anyone trying to leave or enter. Police said school officials had asked for the raid, after being plagued with drugs and pushers on campus.

2 Comments:

At November 06, 2005 8:47 PM, Blogger erp said...

Hal. Your comparison of Italian gangsters and Muslim terrorists is so off base, I hardly know where to start, and it’s not my intention to excuse or rationalize criminals, just to introduce some facts.

The rise of gangsters was due to the Volstead Act which prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages. Poor parenting had nothing to do with it. When you think of Chicago, you think of Al Capone??? He went to jail in 1932 and when he was released in 1937, he was broken sick man with dementia who died in 1947. So he hasn’t been a factor in gangsterdom for 73 years. I think he would be very flattered that he looms so large in your memory.

Italian gangsters never controlled our cities nor did they foment riots. They never asked for parts of the landscape to be handed over to them. They certainly never asked for nor they would accept welfare and they took great pains to never injure innocent people. They supplied the vice the nice people in the community demanded.

The following statement is so silly, I hardly know how to reply, Americans are trained not to notice the Italian connection. ??? Connection to what? Movies and television shows??? These aren’t documentaries even by Michael Moore’s standards of fantasy. At this point in our history, most people with Italian heritage go back two or three generations. Their only ties to the old country is a passion for pasta.

Tony Soprano is portrayed in the TV series by the actor James Gandolfino and his pal, Silvio, is portrayed by Steven Van Zandt, a famous rock star who from his name might be German or Dutch. They really aren’t gangsters and you may know the Marlon Brando who plays the Godfather in the movies is not of Italian heritage either. His family were of primarily Dutch, Irish and English stock.

The newest immigrant group takes over when the previous one moves up and out into mainstream society. If you were following those movies and television programs you would have seen that after WW2, newer immigrant populations were gradually taking over organized crime. American is equal opportunity even among the gangster element.

 
At November 07, 2005 10:05 AM, Blogger oskar said...

To begin with, I'd hardly categorize the immigrant areas of Malmö as "slums" (they're ghettos, but the city spends a disproportionate amount of money keeping them in good shape. usually it's immigrant politicians who call them "slums" as an excuse for more money or for thir citizens criminal behavior).

Second, Malmö is probably the worst city in Sweden, partly due to the many immigrants living there. Friends who have lived there moved out when they had children. The city is actually not half bad, it's just that it's really segregated with problems like the one described in the article.

 

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