Violence | A 12-year-old girl was beaten in the middle of a school corridor in Vantaa

Elementary school age the girl was a victim of violence in the middle of the school day in Vantaa. He was punched and kicked in the school hallway.

Violence in schools has caused great concern in Vantaa and throughout Finland even before the Viertola school shooting incident.

The police in Eastern Uusimaa already warned during the pandemic that it would have to intervene even weekly in disruptive behavior and disputes at schools in the region. At the time, the police described serious violence as rare.

In the 2022 investigation by the Central Criminal Police, it was found that violent situations have increased in Finnish schools since since 2015. There are no exact statistics, because the police do not record all visits to schools.

Violence among young people has exploded. There is more violence and it has changed its form.

HS now interviewed a mother whose daughter was beaten twice last year: once inside the school and the second time on the way to school in Vantaa. The mother wants to tell about the situation because she feels deep concern and helplessness.

HS does not reveal the names of the child or the mother to protect the family, but the names are known to the editor.

First the incident happened in March 2023. The daughter was a 12-year-old sixth grader at the time.

The 12-year-old was attacked by a classmate who, according to the mother, has bullied the daughter since the fourth grade.

“The girl approached my child in the school corridor, hit him on the head and face several times”, says the mother about her child's experiences.

There was surveillance camera footage of the incident and a criminal investigation was launched. HS has seen police documents proving the case and screenshots of Wilma messages.

In the screenshots, the school principal says that the recording clearly shows how another student of the school hits and kicks the girl several times.

Second the act of violence happened last fall.

The suspected abusers were three girls from a parallel class. On the way to school, the suspects asked the victim to go to the forest to find out something.

“They had hit the face and head several times so that the nose was bleeding,” the mother describes.

She took her child to the doctor the same day. HS has seen the doctor's record of what happened.

The doctor writes how the 13-year-old's hair was pulled and he was hit in the face with both an open palm and a fist. The girl's nose had bled and there were superficial, reddish bruises on the back of her head and face around the left eye.

“My child has a strong character and hasn't broken down yet, but he has been very anxious and sad. He has turned inward,” says the mother.

A girl acts of violence at the school have been reviewed and efforts have been made to intervene, the mother says.

“The criminal reports have not progressed anywhere. After the first beating, the police announced that the investigation had been completed. The investigation into the second one is apparently still in progress.”

HS has seen the police document, which tells about the conclusion of the preliminary investigation because the abuser is under 15 years old.

School has been in contact with the social authorities and filed a child protection report. In the screenshot, the principal says that the school also initiates its own disciplinary measures in such situations.

Mom doesn't know what this actually is.

“Of course, the school does not tell us what possible sanctions have followed the bully. To worry about my own child, is there anything.”

Violence there has also been mockery, exclusion, threats, spreading nonsense and purposeful slander on, for example, social media, the mother says.

Memes have been made about the child and a fake Snapchat profile has been created in his name.

“When I had to dress up on Halloween, the bullies dressed up as my daughter.”

HS has seen screenshots of Snapchat message threads where the child is called names and hopes that he will be beaten.

“This is crushing the ego, such means are used. No child should have to experience this from other students,” says the mother.

To be teased the daughter who had to change classes in the fall when she moved to middle school. This is wrong of the mother.

“Why does the bullied change and not the bully? Even my child said that he hasn't done anything wrong. And the students still see each other in the school corridors.”

The family wondered if they should move away from Vantaa to ensure the child's safety.

“The daughter has already said if we can move to the country.”

Vantaa updated the anti-bullying action program in 2022, which obliges schools to respond to and prevent school bullying.

The school must have defined procedures for dealing with bullying.

“Each school must have a bullying investigation and intervention group, to which education and teaching staff and student care representatives are selected based on their competence”, Deputy City Manager for Education and Training Katri Kalske says.

According to Kalske, Vantaa has increased the teaching of interaction skills, for example.

“All students have an emotional and interaction lesson once a month. In addition, 7th and 8th graders permanently have a half-hour weekly lesson on these issues in the reading order.”

If school bullying has already occurred, the school's duty is to talk to the students involved, to contact the guardians, to take the necessary mediation measures and to agree on follow-up. If necessary, a child protection report will be made about the perpetrator and the police will be contacted.

“The Basic Education Act defines the means of punishment. If a child commits serious violence, it is possible that the punishment is temporary expulsion from school,” says Kalske.