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Student filmed bullied youth’s suicide attempt

A school in Linköping in central Sweden has reported an incident to police that culminated in a student using his mobile phone to film the attempted suicide of another boy at the school.

Just prior to the attempted suicide, bullies had bound the boy onto a set of wall bars with a jump rope and left him there, according to the incident report filed by the school’s principal with the Swedish Work Environment Authority (Arbetsmiljöverket).

The boy then attempted to hang himself with a gym bag in the locker room.

The incident is very serious, said Lars Rejdnell, child and youth director of the municipality of Linköping.

“It is obviously completely unacceptable that this has happened. This is a small school in a small town and what has occurred is extremely deplorable,” he told the the local Norrköpings Tidningar newspaper.

The matter has been reported to the police and investigations have been carried out by both the school and the municipality, according to Rejdnell.

Students have received support from the school psychologist, student health team and regional child and youth psychiatric health services.

The school has also called for a meeting with parents. Rejdnell is satisfied with how the school’s leadership acted following the incident.

“From what I can see, they have done everything they should. After everything that has happened, they have reacted in a good way,” he said.

According to Rejdnell, the boy had not been bullied in the past.

“As it has been described to me, this was an isolated event. The boy is back in school and coping very well,” he said.

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CHILDREN

What names do foreign nationals give their babies in Switzerland?

Each year for more than three decades, the Federal Statistical Office has been publishing the first names of infants born in Switzerland the previous year. It seems that foreigners favour names that are typical of their national background.

What names do foreign nationals give their babies in Switzerland?
Foreigners give their babies names that reflect their nationality. Photo by Keira Burton from Pexels

As The Local reported on Wednesday, the most popular names for newborn girls born in Switzerland in 2020 were Mia, Emma, and Mila.

For boys, Noah took the top spot, ahead of Liam and Matteo.

REVEALED: The most popular baby name in each Swiss canton

But what about the most popular names among various nationalities living in Switzerland?

The answers come from the same study.

Italy

The top name for boys of Italian parents is Giuseppe, followed by Antonio and Francesco. For girls, Maria is in the first place, Anna in the second, and Francesca in the third.

Portugal

There are many Portuguese immigrants living in Switzerland and, like their Italian counterparts, they like to give their children traditional names: José, Carlos and Manuel for boys, and Maria, Ana, and Sandra for girls.

Spain

Spanish names are similar to those of Portuguese babies.

José, Juan and Jose are most popular boy names, while Maria, Ana and Laura are in the top three spots for the girls.

Turkey

Most boys of Turkish descent are named Mehmet, Ali, and Mustafa. Among girls, Fatma, Ayse, and Elif dominate.

Kosovo

Arben, Vallon, and Bekim are top names for boys, and Fatime, Shquipe, and Merite for girls.

Macedonia

Bekim is in the first place for boys, followed by Muhamed and Fatmir. Among girls, Fatimr is in the lead, Sara in the second place, and Emine in the third.

Serbia

Aleksandar, Dragan and Nicola take the first three spots. For the girls, Jelena, Maria and Snezana are at the top.

Can you give your baby any name you want?

Not in Switzerland, you can’t. It’s important to keep in mind that the cantonal registry offices, where new births must be announced, don’t have to accept very unusual names.

Several years ago, for instance, a Zurich court ruled that parents can’t name their infant daughter ‘J’.

In another case, a couple in the canton of Bern were ordered to change the name of their newborn son because their choice – Jessico – was considered too feminine. 

Several names have been forbidden in Switzerland, including Judas, Chanel, Paris and Mercedes. 

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