Explosive increase in reports of violence and threats registered in Oslo schools
From 2016 to 2019, the number of reported incidents of violence and threats in Oslo schools increased from 1,940 to 4,840 incidents.
Spitting, biting, fights, and threats have become increasingly common, employees in schools in the capital say, the newspaper Dagsavisen writes.
The largest increase has been registered in the category of serious and very serious incidents. At the same time, it turns out that over 90% of the most serious violence occurs in ordinary schools and not in special schools where students with the most severe diagnoses go, according to figures from the Education Agency in Oslo Municipality.
In the period between 2016 and 2020, a total of 17,120 incidents of violence against employees at Oslo schools were reported. 8,107 of these cases were described as “serious” or “very serious.” The most serious cases alone account for just under 2,000 violent incidents, of which 141 cases have been reported to the police.
Lars Roar Frøyland researches trends in violence among young people at the research institute NOVA and Oslo Met. He says there are many indications of a development of increased violence among young people.
“All sources point in the same direction, which indicates that there is talk of a real deterioration of the situation since 2015,” Frøyland told Dagsavisen.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayEducation
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