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EDUCATION

Italian high schoolers caught on video threatening teacher over grades

Police are investigating at least three students at a vocational high school in Lucca, Tuscany, after a video of them attempting to intimidate a teacher during a dispute over grades went viral.

Italian high schoolers caught on video threatening teacher over grades
Teachers in Italy say they're subjected to violence by pupils and parents. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

The clip, filmed at the Carrara Technical Institute and obtained by local newspaper Il Tirreno, shows one boy leaning over the teacher's desk and repeating: “Don't piss me off… put six [a pass]”. 

At one point he attempts to grab the teacher's tablet, where marks are registered, as other students snigger. 

When the teacher pulls it away and stands up, the boy points at him and shouts: “You haven't understood a thing. Who's in charge here? Who's in charge? 

“Get on your knees.”

Another video has since emerged of what appears to be the same student donning a motorcycle helmet and making as if to headbutt the teacher, while other yell and laugh. The pupils then dump rubbish bins on his desk.

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The students, all under 18, are under police investigation for their attempt to “bully” their teacher.

The complaint was filed by the institute's headmaster, who said the teacher involved had not reported the incident. Instead head Cesare Lazzari learned of it when the videos were widely shared on social media, he told a local paper, saying that his first reaction was “anger and astonishment”. 

The students involved are facing suspension for the rest of the school year, meaning that some of them will fail, he told Il Tirreno, who said that the main instigator had already been temporarily excluded on multiple occasions.

Lazzari believes that social media might encourage bad behaviour in pupils, by offering an audience for more and more outrageous stunts.

Teachers all over Italy are facing the same phenomenon. In another video widely shared this week, a student at a technical institute in Rome can be heard threatening to dissolve his teacher in acid, telling him: “I'll put you in hospital, sir”.

READ ALSO: Pupils sued by teacher for Facebook insults

The Italian Minister of Education, Valeria Fedeli, called for the schools in both cases to hand out strict punishments, including for the pupils who had filmed the incidents without intervening and for those who shared the videos online. 

But teachers say the existing sanctions aren't enough, after a string of attacks on school staff not just by pupils, but in several cases by parents.

A teachers' association launched a petition this month calling for a new law on violence against teachers, punishing those who assault them with “sanctions that will provide an educational example to future generations”. So far more than 58,000 people have signed.

At least 24 instances of violence against teachers have been reported in the first four months of 2018. In one case in case in Sicily, two parents fractured a PE teacher's rib for telling off their son, while in Caserta a 17-year-old student slashed his Italian teacher in the face with a knife. In Alessandria, a teacher with motor difficulties was taped to a chair which students then took turns kicking, resulting in the suspension of an entire class. 

READ ALSO: Italy amends law to allow kids to go home from school alone

Italy amends law to allow kids to go home from school alone
Photo: tan4ikk/DepositPhotos

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SCHOOLS

Back to school in Italy: how much will it cost, and how can you save money?

With Italy’s schools reopening in September, parents are beginning the annual rush to stock up on essential supplies. But new figures reveal families will have to shell out more this year.

Back to school in Italy: how much will it cost, and how can you save money?

As the summer holidays draw to a close, Italian pupils are preparing to file back into the classroom for the start of the 2023/2024 school year.

For those who aren’t too familiar with the Italian education system, all public schools are managed by regional authorities, meaning return dates vary by region.

For instance, this time around, back-to-school dates will range from September 5th to September 15th, with children in the Bolzano province being the first back in front of the blackboard.

But regardless of the dates pupils will be back at their desks, the purchase of school supplies and textbooks is going to deal many families a harder economic blow this year.

Italy, school, backpacks

Backpacks are the most expensive item in the back-to-school shopping list, with some branded articles going for over 200 euros. Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP

According to estimates from Italian consumer association Assoutenti, the prices of school supplies (backpacks, notebooks, pencil cases, stationery, etc.) have increased by a whopping 9.2 percent compared to last year, while textbook prices have seen year-on-year upticks ranging from 8 to ten percent.

READ ALSO: ‘Very underfunded, very strict’: What readers think of Italy’s schools

The spike, Assoutenti says, is attributable to increases in the prices of raw materials and higher production costs.

So how much should Italian families prepare to shell out?

According to Assoutenti, expenses for school supplies alone may range from 500 to 600 euros per student

As usual, the most expensive item on the back-to-school list is the backpack, with the price of some brand-name articles currently exceeding 200 euros.

But significant expenses are also required for pencil cases or pouches (branded items may go for as much as 60 or 70 euros), school diaries (around 50 euros for the most sought-after brands) and technical items (i.e., set squares and triangles, compasses, goniometers, etc.).

On top of the above-mentioned school supplies, families will also have to pay for textbooks. 

While elementary school textbooks are supplied free of charge across the entire country, costs for middle school (scuola media) or high school (scuola superiore) textbooks generally fall between 300 and 600 euros, with prices varying according to the year and school children happen to be in. 

READ ALSO: OPINION: Are Italy’s international schools really ‘international’?

All in all then, Assoutenti estimates that the purchase of school supplies and textbooks might set Italian families back over 1,200 euros per student this year. 

But, as the prospect of the back-to-school financial blow gives rise to justified concern among parents, consumer groups have already provided families with some useful advice on how to save up on both supplies and textbooks.

School supplies in Italy

Italian consumer groups have advised families to avoid branded items when it comes to purchasing school supplies. Photo by OLI SCARFF / AFP

How to save money on school supplies

  • Avoid branded items. Children are easily influenced by TV and/or online ads and might push to get the most popular and fashionable articles on the market. However, off-brand items generally have the same features and durability as their more well-known counterparts and might go for 40 percent less.
  • Buy from a local supermarket rather than a stationery shop. At this time of the year, many supermarket chains offer very favourable deals on school kits, with prices being sometimes 30 percent lower than in specialist shops.
  • Don’t buy everything at once. Any item that is not immediately necessary can be bought at a later stage.
  • Wait for teachers’ guidelines, especially when it comes to buying material for art or geometry classes. Knowing exactly what items are required will save you from spending money on wrong or unnecessary articles.

How to save money on textbooks

  • Buy second-hand textbooks. Purchasing libri usati might allow you to save up to 50 percent on school books. However, it’s usually best to check the state of the items – especially their exercise pages – prior to buying. Also, keep in mind that past editions might no longer be accepted.
  • Shop online or in supermarkets. Some supermarkets and online marketplaces sell textbooks at favourable prices, with discounts usually ranging between 10 and 20 percent.
  • Buy digital textbooks. Again, not all schools allow this but in some institutes families have the option to buy the required set of textbooks in digital form. Students can then access the books via a pc, tablet or e-reader.
  • Loan textbooks directly from the school. Not all institutes do this but some allow for various forms of comodato d’uso whereby families can loan textbooks for the entire length of the school year and then return them when classes end in June.
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