Case in Styria

After violence at schools: FPÖ wants to lower the age of punishment

Stefan Hermann, education spokesman for the Styrian FPÖ

(Bild: LT Stmk/Frankl)

There is a great deal of excitement following the "Krone" story about several suspensions at a Styrian secondary school. As reported, a 14-year-old is said to have threatened girls with a knife. The Styrian FPÖ is now calling for the age of criminal responsibility to be reduced to 12.

As reported, a gang of boys is said to have run a kind of reign of terror in a secondary school in the Graz area and repeatedly harassed fellow pupils. As a "highlight", a 14-year-old is said to have threatened several girls with a knife in the week before the energy vacations. A total of three boys were suspended from school as a result.

The Styrian FPÖ sees this and another recent incident in Graz, when an 18-year-old Syrian brutally beat a 14-year-old Afghan in front of a school, as confirmation of its call for tougher action against violent young offenders. "The FPÖ already addressed the problem of rising youth crime last year as part of a series of motions. For example, more preventative measures are needed against the spread of radical Islam. Above all, we are calling for the age of criminal responsibility to be lowered from 14 to 12," says Freedom Party education spokesperson Stefan Hermann. 

"Zero tolerance strategy"
The FPÖ already attracted attention last summer when it called for educational camps for problem youths. "Above all, there must be a zero-tolerance strategy for acts of violence in schools. There also needs to be an annual report to the state parliament showing how often such incidents actually occur in educational institutions," Hermann demands. 

In any case, the Freedom Party wants to shed more light on the case in Graz-Umgebung with a parliamentary question to the Ministry of the Interior and a question to ÖVP State Councillor for Education Werner Amon.