Absolute hell. The teacher described a typical day in a German school

“At our general school, 80 to 90 percent of the students had a migrant background. Many come from Islamic countries such as Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Algeria, Bosnia, Chechnya, Afghanistan or Pakistan, but also from Russia and North Africa,” says Ebelová. Among them are also children from families that belong to a persecuted minority or fled to Germany from terror and Islamism.

According to her, no one wants to openly say what is behind the increase in violence in schools. “Migrant students, i.e. adolescent boys, are responsible for the escalation of violence in classrooms and on playgrounds,” notes the teacher of German, history and social sciences in an interview for Focus.

These young people refuse to deal with arguments. “It’s more about who hits the fastest. And for that they are celebrated by others. Many practice martial arts, a hardened body is the best, according to them.”

In the cultures from which these children come, “different images of masculinity and femininity prevail”, says Ebelová, adding that a person often means something only when he can assert himself against others by force.

According to the study, dominant boys who know how to handle guns, knives or boxers are considered “masculine”. “For some students, a knife in a trouser pocket or a school backpack is normal,” describes Ebelová. Others carry knives for self-defense. “The conflict between Turks and Kurds or between Muslims and Yezidis almost always resonates,” he adds.

While male teachers have a relatively good position among students, women have to endure intense hostility. “When students want to insult us, they usually do it with sexualized, fecal language,” says Ebelová.

“You old bitch. I’m going to screw you. Bitch. Bitch. Cunt. Shut up. I will give you AIDS. Shut up, you Jewish whore! These are daily insults,” says the teacher. Provocative shouts like Allahu akbar (All praise to Allah), Heil Hitler or Hamas! Hamas! they shouted especially after last October 7, when the teacher expressed solidarity with Israel.

If she gave someone a bad grade or confiscated her cell phone during class, the person in question immediately pulled the racism card on her, and her parents supported her in this.

The teacher considers it absolutely absurd. She is a member of the organization of the Kurdish community in Germany and the Society for Endangered Nations. She has been involved in the field of human and women’s rights for a long time and fights against radical Islamist currents in Germany.

She regularly encountered threats of physical violence. A student from Albania, who did not speak German, openly threatened that Birgit Ebelová would be beaten. When she wanted to introduce him to the school management, he just laughed mockingly.

According to Birgit Ebelová, the incident is an example of dramatic developments in elementary schools. “I noticed a systematic increase in violent behavior among children and adolescents, especially in the second grade of elementary school,” she said.

A few years ago (2011, editor’s note), her school was nominated for the German School Award. Then the situation visibly worsened. The social and ethnic composition of pupils is “becoming more and more problematic” and violence in schools is increasing.

Last year alone, there were 27,500 violent crimes in schools across the country, including assaults, robberies and knife attacks, a 27 percent increase compared to 2022, police statistics show. In Berlin, an average of five police operations take place every school day.

Ebelová emphasizes that not all students are violent. It is always individual offenders or groups who constantly cause disturbances, damage the reputation of the school and make normal school operations impossible.

“Elementary schools suffer from a messed up school policy. Gymnasiums and secondary schools can deport problem children and children with poor grades back to primary schools,” he criticizes the situation.

Man is practically forced to “more or less accept” catastrophic conditions. According to Ebelová, the fact that teachers riot or publicly fight to raise an alarm is an exception. “Nobody wants to be seen as the messenger of bad news and the one who destroys the school’s reputation. And because of the aggressiveness, people are afraid,” he says.

The parents of the aggressors, in turn, invent accusations and complain about the teacher. “Two lines are enough and you must apologize in writing. She herself already had to defend herself against such accusations with the help of lawyers. “No complaint has ever been confirmed,” she added.

From her point of view, it is necessary to act quickly, especially to ensure that each school has a maximum of 35 percent of pupils with a migrant background. “It cannot be the case that there is only five percent somewhere and 80 or 90 percent elsewhere. Then the system collapses,” he says.

The statistics speak for themselves. In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, 930 teachers left education last year, a third of whom were under 40 years old. In the previous year, there were almost 800 dismissals, in 2013 there were only 299 of them. Currently, approximately 7,000 teachers are not available in North Rhine-Westphalia.