Peer Violence in the School Environment: Protection Standards to Verify

• August 2024 is the deadline for introducing standards to protect minors from violence in schools. They are mentioned in the act passed in 2016.
• Meanwhile, it is noted that educational institutions need, above all, standards that protect the weakest, i.e. disabled students, from violence.
• According to social activists, aggression towards such children leads to behaviors that are later perceived by educators as "difficult."

Peer violence in the school environment is a topic that comes up during meetings of the Commissioner for Human Rights with representatives of social organizations. However, violence against disabled students deserves special attention here.

The social side often emphasizes the need to raise standards of protection of minors with disabilities from violence . It draws attention to the lack of understanding of the emotional and cognitive needs of students on the autism spectrum, which leads to improper communication with these people and the accumulation of negative emotions. The result may be behaviors perceived by some teachers and employees of educational institutions as "difficult" or aggressive.

Social activists draw attention to the lack of standards of conduct towards such behaviours , which should appear, among others, in school statutes, as well as in training materials for teachers.

- In August 2024, the deadline for introducing standards for the protection of minors, referred to in the Act on Counteracting Threats of Sexual Crime and the Protection of Minors, passed. In accordance with the provisions of this Act, the standards take into account the situation of children with disabilities and special educational needs - notes the Commissioner for Human Rights.

The directive on the protection of disabled students from violence was also included in the guidelines developed by the Ministry of Justice. It refers, among other things, to the situation of children with special educational needs. Among other issues, the guidelines indicate the issues of counteracting violence in its various forms and possible ways of regulating the procedure for responding to violence involving children.

The guidelines provide a hint on how to construct standards - however, they are not binding.

- we read in the statement of the Commissioner for Human Rights.

Here, questions arise for the Ministry of National Education about whether the ministry conducts analyses at all regarding the introduction of standards for the protection of disabled minors in schools.

According to the Ombudsman, they should concern the method of their reception, including adaptation to the needs and situation of specific facilities and explicitly including the specific situation of children with special educational needs. These standards should - in the opinion of the Ombudsman - focus primarily on procedures for preventing violence in the school environment and responding to it.

One of the more serious problems reported, for example, to the Warsaw Ombudsman for Students' Rights is violence, both peer and teacher violence. It is not only about physical violence, but above all about psychological and verbal violence.

- Students complain about being ridiculed, insulted or publicly criticized by teachers. Even individual situations can make a child afraid to go to school, which has a huge impact on their mental health - said Damian Jaworek, Warsaw Ombudsman for Students' Rights, in an interview with PortalSamorzadowy.pl.