Cell phones instead of fists

Ministry seeks creative ideas against violence

Vienna in particular faces a special challenge, he said.

(Bild: APA/ALEX HALADA)

The Ministry of Education wants to counteract violence in schools with a new initiative. Under the motto "Kamera läuft! Your statement against violence and aggression", pupils at secondary levels one and two are invited to film their ideas for a positive school climate. "Our schools must be safe places," said Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP) at a press conference on Thursday.

Young people have until March 28, 2025 to submit their videos, scripts or storyboards to the Ministry of Education website. The entries should be between one and ten minutes long and deal with the topics of violence prevention, bullying and a respectful school climate.

"With the competition, we not only offer pupils a platform to formulate creative ideas for respectful coexistence, but also promote a conscious and constructive approach to violence prevention," says Polaschek.

Presentation with Olympic medal winner
The video project is a measure to prevent violence in schools alongside the mandatory child protection concepts that every school is required to draw up by the end of the current school year, the "Preventing extremism at school" initiative, further and advanced training for teachers in de-escalation management and cyberbullying as well as cooperation with police safety officers.

The project was presented on Thursday by Polaschek together with judoka and Olympic medal winner Shamil Borchashvili, who has been holding workshops at schools for some time under the motto "Become the best version of yourself" and acts as a jury member for the initiative.

Polaschek: "Great challenge"
When asked about the number of exceptional pupils - i.e. those who cannot speak German well enough to follow lessons - Polaschek said: "Yes, it has increased. (..) That's why we have increased the support hours accordingly and invested 40 million euros in Vienna alone". German support programs have also been expanded.

German deficits occupy the city of Vienna
The federal capital is facing a greater challenge because children with poor German language skills are less spread out than in the federal states. He does not think much of a proposal by the Greens to expand school choice to include socio-economic criteria. This envisaged that parents would be able to specify five preferred schools in future.

The final allocation would be made centrally according to the criteria of proximity to home, siblings, first language and parents' level of education. "I don't think this proposal is very mature in this form". It is important to consider "what the consequences could be", namely that parents who could afford it would send their children to private schools, said Polaschek.