Swedish school principals forced to carry anti-aggression alarms amid rising violence

According to the Swedish Teachers’ Union in Borås, violence and threats against school staff in Borås secondary schools have increased sharply in the past few years.

Incident reports have also increased according to figures obtained by SVT Nyheter Väst. Several teachers and school principals also say that the school environment has been struggling with an increasingly harsh climate.

According to information provided to SVT Nyheter Väst, at least three school principals have assault alarms due to different threat scenarios.

Notably, the town of 70 000 inhabitants boasts no fewer than 29 immigration lawyers as well as a mosque.

In Malmö the local education authority announced last year that guardians of 30 000 primary school children would be asked to sign a contract, requiring them and their children to adopt a “positive attitude” towards teachers after reports of a rise in violent incidents against teachers and other pupils in Swedish schools.

Between 2012 and 2018, school violence had risen by 121 percent according to the Swedish Work Environment Authority (SWEA).

Reported assaults against teachers have been rising in Sweden since 2011, coinciding with the number of foreign citizens living in Sweden which rose by almost 40 percent over the same period.

Karl Hallerup who worked as a teacher for 14 years, believes that the situation when it comes to violence threats and against teachers has escalated.

SVT Nyheter Väst contacted several people in the school system who say that there are teachers who do not dare to make an incident report. Some are afraid that the problems may get worse and others do not think it will lead to anything. Hallerup also believes that some teachers do not want to clash with guardians, principals or politicians and therefore do not report such incidents.

Fires in school buildings are also a major problem in Sweden and there is a consensus that arson was a serious problem.