Stiffer penalties to combat surge in bullying

Seeking to tackle the rise in cases of bullying, the government has announced a series of preventive measures which include, among others, stricter penalties for students for acts of violence at school and parents' co-responsibility for their children's actions.

While the percentage of students who reported being the victim of bullying at least a few times in a month in 2022 decreased compared to 2018 (23.5% from 27%), there was, nevertheless, a large increase in the number of minors aged 13 to 17 who have committed offenses under the Criminal Code, which indicates the seriousness of the acts, in the last four years. What's more, school truancy will be recorded as an absence, while photography and filming at school is banned.

The measures were outlined on Tuesday by Education Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis at the 3rd Middle School of Polichni in Thessaloniki, in the...