SHARE
COPY LINK

SCHOOL

Teen girl ill after eating raw animal heart

A 16-year-old girl is recovering in hospital from a life-threatening infection after she was forced to eat a raw animal heart during an initiation ceremony for a high school sorority in south-eastern Norway.

Teen girl ill after eating raw animal heart
Girls dance in a Drammen square during Wedesday's initiation ceremony.

The girl’s parents were among a number of shocked witnesses at Bragernes Square in Drammen last Wednesday, as a group of girls sought to prove their suitability for the Gevjon sorority.

Lured by the promise of exclusive parties, some 12 teenagers ate raw fish and animal hearts, drank water spiked with chewing tobacco, and slapped each other in the face in the middle of the city square, newspaper Drammens Tidende reports.

A few hours after the humiliating ritual, the 16-year-old girl suffered an allergic reaction to the raw food and was taken by ambulance to hospital.

While she recovered quickly and was soon sent home, on Friday she had a relapse and was kept in quarantine at the hospital over the weekend, her father told the newspaper.

By Sunday evening, her condition had deteriorated still further, with doctors fearing the girl had been infected with the life-threatening E. coli bacteria.

On Monday morning, however, staff at the hospital said her life was no longer considered to be in danger.

The girl’s father, who requested not to be named in order to protect his daughter’s identity, said he was appalled that the sorority's hazing ceremonies had been allowed to spiral so far out of control.

“The police know what’s happening, and with that in mind I’m strongly critical of them allowing the event,” he told Drammens Tidende.

Ellen Kathrine Winstrup, principal of the Drammen Videregående Skole, said she was powerless to stop initiation rites taking place away from the school and outside of school hours.

She added, however, that she strongly disapproved of the demeaning rituals, which she said were damaging the school’s reputation.

“Until recent years the girls would get involved in some tomfoolery such as dressing up, having entertainment in the schoolyard, and occasionally some girl made a fool of herself, but it was not dangerous,” said Winstrup.

“In recent years we have seen the introduction of aspects we absolutely do not like,” she added.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

SCHOOL

Bavaria plans 100 million rapid Covid tests to allow all pupils to return to school

In the southern state of Bavaria, schools have been promised 100 million self-tests starting next week so that more children can start being taught in person again. But teachers say the test strategy isn't being implemented properly.

Bavaria plans 100 million rapid Covid tests to allow all pupils to return to school
Children in the classroom in Bavaria. Photo:Matthias Balk/DPA

State leaders Markus Söder said on Friday that the first 11 million of the DIY tests had already arrived and would now be distributed through the state.

“It’s no good in the long run if the testing for the school is outside the school,” Söder told broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) during a visit to a school in Nuremberg.

“Contrary to what has been planned in Berlin, we’ve pre-ordered in Bavaria: for this year we have 100 million tests.”

Bavaria, Germany’s largest state in terms of size, plans to bring all children back into schools starting on Monday.

SEE ALSO: ‘The right thing to do’ – How Germany is reopening its schools

However, high coronavirus case rates mean that these plans have had to be shelved in several regions.

In Nuremberg, the state’s second largest city, primary school children have been sent back into distance learning after just a week back in the classroom.

The city announced on Friday that schools would have to close again after the 7-day incidence rose above 100 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The nearby city of Fürth closed its schools after just two days of classroom time on Wednesday, after the 7-day incidence rose to 135.

The Bavarian test strategy plans for school children to receive one test per week, while teachers have the possibility of taking two tests a week. The testing is not compulsory.

But teachers’ unions in the southern state have warned that the test capacity only exists on paper and have expressed concern that their members will become infected in the workplace.

“Our teachers are afraid of infection,” Almut Wahl, headmistress of a secondary school in Munich, told BR24.

“Officially they are allowed to be tested twice a week, we have already received a letter about this. But the tests are not there.”

BR24 reports that, contrary to promises made by the state government, teachers in many schools have still not been vaccinated, ventilation systems have not been installed in classrooms, and the test infrastructure has not been put in place.

SHOW COMMENTS