On July 3, 2020, the parliament approved the establishment of the school guard institution, and it is already known that school guards will start their work at 491 locations. The Bagázs Association shares some thoughts about this subject in its blog post. Volunteers from the Association who closely work with the schools in Bag and Dány also experience violence in these schools, there are few support professionals, and teachers often feel helpless to deal with the situation.
Children living in these settlements are witnessing physical and verbal violence since birth. People living in these poor settlements often protect themselves and their families by force, as law enforcement officers don’t go out to the scene. Children learn this pattern and apply it throughout their lives, so they try to achieve things by force in schools too.
Thus, an unfair situation will arise, where school guards will punish them for their action at school, but they won’t receive protection on the streets and in their homes. The destructive pattern will be further reinforced: violence will be answered with violence.
The Bagázs Association supports the Teachers’Union proposal as an alternative to the school guards:
-for every 200 children an everyday present school psychologist
-more special education and developmental support teachers
-more pedagogical assistants in the schools.
In addition, it is important that the social welfare system to be stronger on the settlements, and that the law enforcement to be present on the streets and in the daily life so that children to be safe not only in their homes but also on the streets.