With regard to violence and religious bullying in schools, German Family Minister Franziska Giffey calls for consistent action. "Anti-bullying professionals" at schools are to provide relief.
Existing rules must be respected, said SPD politician Giffrey in an interview with the "Passauer Neue Presse" on Saturday. If this is not the case, she sees various possibilities: "From pedagogical talks, to calling in parents, and if it continues, the police should also be involved."
Every case of discrimination must be reported
The minister announced plans to send more than 170 "anti-bullying professionals" to schools with problems. The forces then worked with students, talking about respect, recognition, the status of girls and what it means to "live a free life, what role faith plays or sexual orientation".
In addition, professional social work can help, she said. "If someone says, 'You Jew, you victim,' one must not react with a shrug of the shoulders. It must be investigated why children and young people express themselves in such a way. Respect and tolerance must be worked for every day," the minister stressed.
Every case of anti-Semitism, radicalization, racism and hatred must be reported to the school authorities and dealt with, she said. "Many schools shy away from this because they fear stigmatization if they show up with many cases in the statistics."
Assault by Muslim students on Jewish girl
"We have to get away from that. A school that reports incidents of violence is a school where it is dealt with consistently and where the problems are worked through."
The debate about violence and religious bullying was triggered by an incident at a Berlin elementary school. According to the report, Muslim students attacked a Jewish girl "because she does not believe in Allah".
Earlier, in response to the girl's statement that she was Jewish, a student had repeated the word "Jew" several times in a threatening tone of voice. The girl had also been threatened with death before.