The killing of eighteen-year-old Abanoud Youssef, stabbed to death in the Einaudi-Chiodo institute in La Spezia, has raised the emergency on safety in schools. Valditara confirms the “use of metal detectors” in schools “in agreement with the prefect”
The murder of eighteen-year-old Abanoud Youssef, which occurred within the walls of the Einaudi-Chiodo institute in La Spezia, has turned the spotlight on the issue of safety in schools. The Minister of Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, reiterated today his desire to use metal detectors to prevent knives from entering schools.
“The first element”, underlined the minister, is “to encourage the inclusion of the most vulnerable children”. Added to this is “the need to defend the school community, students, teachers and ATA staff”. And it is in this context that Valditara clarified that “in some schools, where the school community, through the principal, deems it necessary to check that children do not bring knives to school” “the use of metal detectors in agreement with the prefect” will be allowed. Valditara said he had already spoken about it with the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi. Going into the specifics of metal detectors, he specified that “they would be mobile”. In fact, we would not be thinking of “fixed stations” but rather of “measures which may not be necessary every day”, but which “would have a strongly dissuasive effect”.
The importance of the “cultural and educational plan”
Piantedosi, a few days ago, spoke about the killing of the eighteen-year-old, arguing that we need to reflect on “how it is possible for kids at school to settle their own accounts by using knives and bringing them from home.” For the Interior Minister, the issue cannot be addressed only by thinking about “security systems” and “traditional prevention systems”. An intervention would therefore be necessary which also concerns “the cultural and educational level”, encouraging “a sense of responsibility and reference values”.
The upcoming measures and the call for unity
Valditara, in reassuring the family of Abanoud Youssef, specified that “everything that the institutions have to do will be done”. And in this regard he explained: “I wanted to reassure” the family members “that we are preparing particularly severe measures which also involve, among other things, the purchase and carrying of improper weapons such as in this case knives and I also want to underline that we must not be divided on this, because the security needs must not be seen from an ideological point of view”.
«A law immediately»
The family members of the boy killed with a knife at school are asking for “a law before there are other victims, not tomorrow, not after three-four victims”, but “immediately”. “The victim is not one, there are five victims: the whole family, the mother is dying of pain.” After meeting Valditara yesterday, Abanoud’s uncle declared: “They told us that they are working and that there will be rapid government intervention to apply justice now but also to prevent there being other episodes of this kind.”
