A classmate raped Oscar, 11, in the school yard.
The abuse was interrupted by a teacher.
Despite that, the principal believes that Oscar should continue to be in the same class as the perpetrator.
– My boy refuses to go to school after what happened. But the school doesn’t listen. They threaten to report me to social welfare because he has become a home sitter, says Oscar’s mother.
It was in February this year that the mother received a call from her 11-year-old son Oscar’s teacher.
Something serious had happened during a break at school and the mother was called to a meeting that afternoon.
– Then the teacher told me that a student had raped my son during recess the day before. It’s the worst conversation I’ve had in my life, she says.
“Don’t recognize my boy”
Upstairs in the family’s house in a small town in Skåne, Oscar, whose real name is something else, is playing.
His mother is sitting in the kitchen downstairs. She places the school’s violation report on the oak table and adjusts her burgundy glasses.
In the report, it is stated that the school assessed the incident during the break “directly as an assault”.
Which surprises her.
– Because then I don’t understand at all why they chose to inform me the day after the rape took place. How can they not call me right after it happened? How could they not even call the same day?
According to the mother, the school must have said that the principal was not available that day – and that they wanted to wait for the principal’s directive.
– I’m pissed. I think the school has handled this completely wrong from day one, she says.
The mother leans over the table and lowers her voice:
– I don’t recognize my boy after what happened. He used to be so full of life. Now he has nightmares and panic attacks. He is showing symptoms similar to PTSD.
Meet in the schoolyard
After the abuse, the school suspended the suspected student – and according to the mother, they would let them know if or when he would return.
– But two weeks later my boy came home from school. He was upset and scared. “Mom, you promised me the other boy wouldn’t be at school, but today he was,” he told me.
The boys had then met in the school yard.
The rape was reported to the police by the school three days after it took place. But since the suspected perpetrator is under 15 years of age, he does not risk being brought to justice.
The police’s investigation into child rape has instead been handed over to the Social Services Administration in the municipality – which can then decide on possible measures.
Despite that, the school thinks the boys should be in the same class, says the mother.
– Every day is a struggle to get him to school. I get to lift him out the door. He used to love school, now he’s afraid to go there.
“All children must be safe at school”
Pattering rain hits the sheet metal of the roof. Oscar’s mother looks out of the window and fixes her gaze on the lilac trees out in the yard. She sits quietly for a moment before continuing:
– But the school doesn’t listen. I don’t understand how they can force him to sit in the same classroom as his abuser.
The school is now threatening to report the mother to Social Services for neglect.
– It is clear that it feels terrible to be reported to social services, but I know how I am as a mother. I feel secure in the fact that I am a good mother and that I only want the best for my child.
She says that the school referred to compulsory schooling.
– But I counter that by referring to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. All children should be safe when they go to school.
Mother’s demands
Oscar’s mother pours milk into his coffee and stirs with a spoon.
– As long as my son has not gone to school, now during the summer, he has been as usual. But when the autumn semester started in August, his condition worsened again.
Before the semester, the mother had a meeting with the school and pleaded that the suspect boy be moved to another class. But the school did not want to agree to that.
Now they have instead agreed to let Oscar go to school for two hours a day – that he then gets to sit in his own hall at school to avoid being in the same room as the suspected perpetrator.
Oscar’s mother is always there for the two hours.
– I do not trust that the school can protect and secure my child. I feel like I have to be there for my boy. So that he can go to school without having to be afraid.
She describes that she has lost trust in the school as an authority.
The idea has struck her to change her son’s school. The nearest school is several hours away – but the family decided that was not an option.
– It is above all because we could not afford petrol for the long drives. But also because he likes his classmates and his girlfriend so much that he has in the class. He is not the one who should have to move. There must be another solution.
What do you think would have been a suitable solution?
– I either want them to divide the boys into different classes or for the other boy to change schools. I demand that.
The school: There are routines
The principal of the school in question writes in an email to Aftonbladet that they do not want to comment on the incident or how the school handled the situation.
“We have received information that you applied for us. There are routines at our primary school and we cannot comment on individual student matters. We refer to the director of education in the municipality”.
Aftonbladet has contacted the director of education, who states that he does not want to comment either.
“For reasons of confidentiality, we cannot comment on individual cases”, he writes and continues:
“There are clear procedures for handling this type of matter within the Education Administration. We also have routines for handling complaints and we work continuously to follow up our operations and the decisions that are made”.
The expert: Double punishment
Mikael Hellstadius, assistant professor at Stockholm University, has worked as a school legal expert for over a decade.
He says he has seen similar cases where students have been exposed to sexual offenses and then forced to attend the same class as the perpetrator.
– It may be that schools are afraid of making a mistake when it comes to a suspected perpetrator’s education and that they then go too far in the other direction.
According to Mikael Hellstadius, it is a principal’s decision that determines whether to separate a perpetrator from the same class as the crime victim.
– What I think I see is that you do not exhaust all possibilities to prevent the person who is exposed every day from being forced to meet the person who committed the suspected act.
He points out that the regulations are designed for all children’s right to feel safe at school.
– A situation like this is extremely unfortunate when it occurs. It will be like a double punishment. First you are exposed to a horrible deed and then it results in you not getting your education at school.
Tags: Student raped recess school forces Oscar class perpetrator
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