Student on Teacher Harassment Video Returns Spotlight to School Bullying
The issue of school bullying has emerged again after a Youtube video surfaced, this one showing teenage students tormenting a teacher.
The incident, which the police are investigating, took place in a school in Tõstamaa, in Pärnu County.
Youth resource officer at the constabulary in nearby Audru, Anni Tuulmägi, told uudised.err.ee that the actions shown on the video - there is physical contact between the students and a male teacher - should be roundly condemned.
"It is currently being determined how such a thing could occur, and why the teacher did not turn to the police, who recorded the incidents and how it reached the public. There are many questions to which an answer is being sought," said Tuulmägi.
The police said that all misconduct taking place inside school walls should be reported.
Pärnu County was no stranger to similar incidents in 2012, with nine cases of school bullying where criminal cases were opened under battery charges.
Toomas Mitt, the director of the high school, said the video was shot "some time ago." He said that the students involved, however, are remorseful. They were 14-16 years old at the time.
Suspensions are not planned, Mitt said, although the incident involving the math teacher was not the first.
"Where would they go? Unfortunately the situation with children with special needs is difficult," Mitt said.
The incident has prompted censure from state officials. A spokesman for the Education Ministry, Asso Ladva, told Postimees that the video of students harassing and instigating physical contact with the math teacher indicated that the directorship of the school has "left things undone" and it is possible that there were deficits in the general academic environment.