Unions Sound Alarm over Growing Violence at Swedish Primary Schools

Three unions in Sweden are sounding the alarm over levels of violence and threats in Swedish primary schools in the city of Kungälv, claiming teachers and other staff have even been threatened with murder.

The unions claim increasing violence and threats to staff in primary schools that teach preschool to grade six, known as F-6 schools, in the city. They say little has been done to address the situation for teachers and staff.

“These are several F-6 schools in the municipality, where there are incidents with threats and violence. Therefore, we have chosen to place this notification centrally. It is a big issue that you cannot handle individually at each school, but need to take a greater grip on,” Erika Edvardsson, chair of the Teachers’ Union in Kungälv said, newspaper Kungälvsposten reports.

According to the newspaper, it is not only teachers who receive death threats but also their family members.

“There may be students who say, ‘I’m going to come to your house because…” Edvardsson said.

While teachers do often report incidents, Edvardsson claimed many incidents do not go reported at all: “The teacher makes an incident report, or goes to his principal and talks about it. Or nothing happens. There are a large number of unreported cases.”

Violence in Swedish schools is not a new phenomenon and has been the topic of debate for several years, with a 2019 report from Swedish journalist Joakim Lamotte suggesting that violence was on the rise in schools and many teachers had given up on trying to deal with the issue.

“I saw a lot of schools in crisis in the years I went around and lectured. I often met teachers who surrendered, while pupils did exactly what they wanted,” he said, claiming to have questioned teachers as to why they did not remove trouble-making students.

“Their answer is completely bizarre. The teachers say that the guys in question are violent and have been suspended during periods from school. No one in the faculty has the desire to risk threats and abuse,” he said.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.