20 minutes – "He insulted me and bit me at the door"

Since the summer holidays, three teachers have asked the legal service of the FSS in Basel to be bitten by students. Marianne Schwegler, vice-president of the FSS and a teacher at a primary school in Basel, has already been bitten by an 8-year-old, as reported by Telebasel.

The student had disturbed the morning circle and Schwegler accompanied him to the door to clarify the situation. "There, he verbally offended me first, then he started beating and kicking in. When I held him for that, he bit me," he said. she.

Offenders are also overprotected

"Stings are only part of the problem," says Schwegler. In fact, assaults are rare, more insults are widespread. In the FSS, there is a general increase in lack of respect for teachers, a recent phenomenon among younger students. "It is often difficult for teachers to solve this problem," says the professor.

One of the reasons for the problems sees Schwegler in social change and education. "Today, there are two groups of aggressive students: students from socially disadvantaged families, where such interaction may even be normal, but also overprotected children who are caught up in a misunderstood love. like everything, which creates frustration, "she explains. If the challenge at school was not successful, such children would quickly become crazy.

"Social skills are neglected"

"There is a lot of emphasis on performance, social and emotional skills are neglected," says Schwegler. Some elementary students are still in the stage of emotional development of an infant. This particularly concerns larger groups such as school classes. Parents should also be encouraged to seek help for their studies. Good cooperation between school and home is essential. "The involvement of pediatricians can also make sense in certain situations," says Schwegler.

She herself had the chance to entrust the aggressive student to a colleague of the time. "It helped a lot in this emotionally charged situation," Schwegler said. Therefore, the teacher is convinced that additional staff trained pedagogically in schools can help in such cases.

"Schools and parents are in demand"

Dieter Baur, head of Basel's elementary schools, believes more nationally-based educators would not solve the problems. "Children who still bite into kindergarten or elementary school are not socialized enough to handle their frustration, for example," he says. In all cases, an individual solution must be found. "Then the respective schools and of course the parents are in demand," says Baur.

(Lb)