Safety in and around school grounds in Sweden: a panel discussion
This text is co-authored by project team members Atle Hörnlund and Romina Rodela (Dep. for Environment, Development and Sustainability Studies, Södertörn Univ, Sweden).
Safety and security in public places and meeting spaces have become a very important topic in Sweden following the increase of punitive actions by gang crime (i.e. bombing, shooting or knife attacks targeting members of gang rings). Such crimes most often are undertaken in public places as are squares, streets, and also entrance halls of communal housing and as such affect a large number of residents. A particularly worrying trend is one recently highlighted by the SVT news investigation where they report on shootings taking place in proximity to schools. This is assumed not to be coincidental but rather the consequence of crimes being carried out by young people who might live in the area or have close links with the community of young residents there.
The World Health Organization defines youth violence as a global public health problem. In addition to grave consequences for those who are involved in youth gang crimes, there are also consequences for those who are not directly involved but might happen to live in those communities. These consequences are numerous. For instance, children and youth living in those neighbourhoods might be experiencing emotional distress caused by the incidents as these might have involved, or impacted, schoolmates, friends, or others whom they care for. Second, due to reduced safety in public spaces, youth might be experiencing shrinking access to the outdoors, meeting places and reduced use of public areas which might result in decreasing face-to-face peer socializing and an increase in loneliness. A third impact might be the erosion of trust in the community and public service that failed to secure a safe living environment.
In the PwY research project, where we focus on youth as a less represented group in the context of spatial planning and urban governance, we acknowledge this being a worrying trend. We also note how this seems to disproportionally impact vulnerable communities and youth who are already struggling in the face of current challenges. The Swedish safety and security crisis comes at a time of overlapping crises many young Swedes need to deal with and that includes climate anxiety, deteriorating mental health, the rising cost of living, post-pandemic isolation and an uncertain future.
The need to address questions of safety and security at a local and national level is unequivocal. Local and national policymakers are in agreement that urgent action is needed and different interventions are being considered. We follow closely the ongoing policy debate and with interest attended the panel discussion hosted by the Tryggare Sverige Foundation on crime and schools (title in original: Elevers utsatthet i skolan — Situation, ansvar och åtgärder). The panel hosted local politicians representing Miljöpartiet, Moderaterna, Socialdemokraterna and Kristdemokraterna.
The panel discussion opened with Sofia Axéll from Brottsförebyggande Rådet going over statistics from a report on crime rates in Swedish secondary schools. Amongst other things, the statistics showed that crimes like assault were more likely to occur in a school environment and that a higher rate of crime occurs in schools outside of bigger cities. Additionally, the report suggested a correlation between the number of teachers in a school and the frequency of crime.
After that, it was time for the panel members — each representing one political party — to answer questions and put forward their proposed solutions. Each representative was given a few minutes to answer questions.
To the question of whether all crimes happening in schools should be reported, Camilla Hansen from Miljöpartiet stated that the teachers should not be expected to take on the role of crime investigators, and that is something best left to the police. Noria Manouchi from Moderaterna, in turn, said that there needs to be a protocol in place for matters such as these and that teachers need to be able to assess which crimes need reporting.
The following question sought answers on how schools need to work to prevent crime in the future. Rose-Marie Carlsson from Socialdemokraterna stated that her party’s view is that preventative action should be taken as early as possible, starting in preschool education. Building on that, she emphasized the importance of striving to have all children attend preschool. Mathias Bengtsson, representing Kristdemokraterna, pointed to the need for implementing consequences for the perpetrators. Also, the role parents have in educating their children on acceptable behaviour was discussed.
A third question asked was how politicians could ensure that students reporting crimes are taken seriously. Mathias Bengtsson commented on this being an issue impacting all the society and as such needing inputs from many different actors. In this politicians can support municipalities. During this session, the need to report crimes happening at school was discussed and the question of reallocating those engaging in such behaviour was raised. Noria Manouchi suggested that headmasters gain more authority in suspending students for longer periods, Camilla Hansen suggested that we all need to work proactively rather than reactively in matters such as these while Mathias Bengtsson said yes and that it is the perpetrator who needs to relocate, not the victims.
The last question posed to the panel was about what is needed to ensure the UN's global goal of equality. Rose-Marie Carlsson stated that we need to examine whom the young are looking up to and which pop cultural phenomena are influencing them. We also need to include the students in discussions on what is right and wrong, and at the same time, make sure that resources are in place for schools to work with these matters. Noria Manouchi, in turn, said that schools need to ensure that a culture of democratic norms and values is in place, and at the same time give teachers and headmasters more authority on the subject matter.
Public debate as this one is valuable and needed. Safety and security in and around schools is a complex challenge that is best understood in the context of broader processes of social change. For this reason, policy initiatives which seek to work across sectors and be comprehensive in their ambitions are usually understood to be better suited and it is worth observing how an increasing number of research studies recommend for youth be included when interventions are drafted and discussed. On top of that, we also suggest further interdisciplinary research which is able to connect questions about safety and security, with access and use of outdoor environments and how that plays out in terms of mental and physical health for young people, in particular for the most vulnerable youth groups (i.e. girls). Such research would not only allow us a more in-depth understanding of youth’s experiences with places and spaces but would also offer valuable insight for policy.
