"Orientation guide"

“Consequences” for Vienna’s most violent pupils

Deputy Mayor Education Councillor Christoph Wiederkehr with the new Vienna Education Director Elisabeth Fuchs

(Bild: Lukas Zimmer)

Around 700 pupils are suspended every year in Vienna. The unteachable among them will soon receive "guidance", including their parents. The aim is for them to feel the consequences of their behavior away from prison.

Lectures by neighbourhood police officers, coaching, deradicalization workshops, special classes and, last but not least, suspension from school: none of this has helped a "small but worrying group" of around 20 underage schoolchildren in Vienna, according to City Councillor for Education Christoph Wiederkehr: They have repeatedly been guilty of such offenses, for which they would probably have to go to prison if they were older than 14.

Strict "orientation" for pupils and their parents
From the fall, the city wants to offer the worst of the problem children "guidance" and is investing 500,000 euros in this. Wiederkehr still believes that "it doesn't make sense to put under 14-year-olds in prison, but we need a sign that our own behavior has consequences". Above all, however, the measures are about the safety of all other children at school.

Two to five days on average

Apart from special cases, suspensions from lessons in Vienna are issued for an average of two to five days. Vienna's Director of Education, Elisabeth Fuchs, does not see it as a disadvantage that the school principals alone have to decide on this and that there are therefore no uniform, clear rules, while City Councillor for Education, Christoph Wiederkehr, sees a "fundamental need for reform" in disciplinary measures in the school environment.

The "orientation guide" should be mandatory for parents and children, with consequences ranging up to the removal of the child by MA 11. In addition, tools that have already been used in the past are to be used more frequently and given more budget. Wiederkehr emphasized the importance of deradicalization measures: "We are seeing an increase in Salafist online movements that are hitting young people hard. It is evident that this is on the rise." At the same time, Wiederkehr emphasized that combating extremism is "not a pedagogical task, but one for the police."

"Suspension already works in normal cases"
The new Vienna Director of Education, Elisabeth Fuchs, is convinced that the disciplinary measures taken so far "normally already work". After a suspension, only those pupils who have clinical-psychological problems usually "relapse". However, she could not give any concrete figures on this. However, she swears by violence prevention training: this has led to a "dwindling number" of suspensions at the schools in question.

In fact, the number of suspensions has now been falling for three years in a row, "despite higher pupil numbers and increasing challenges", as Wiederkehr emphasized. The number of suspensions currently stands at around 700 pupils per school year, which is a decrease of 12.44 percent compared to the previous year.