Frightened students refusing to return to school in Vracar: A parent reveals for Telegraf what the demands are

Photo: Nikola Tomic, Tanjug/STR/Sava Radovanovic, Mileta Mircetic

After a great tragedy that happened at Elementary School Vladislav Ribnikar in Vozdovac, Belgrade, when 7th grade student K.K. (13) killed eight of his friends, as well as a school guard, and wounded six more students and a history teacher, parents of the children attending this school held a meeting where they discussed the integration of children back into the community after the massacre.

Recommended

One of the parents who was present spoke to Telegraf.rs.

"Many parents, as many as 60 percent, are in favor of the children being integrated into the community, but not in the same building where the crime took place," he told us and clarified that their request is not that the children be permanently removed from this school, but only temporarily.

The father points out that many children refuse to return to school and are afraid to enter it at all, many are afraid to leave their own apartments.

He revealed to us that a renovation request was proposed:

"When we mentioned a renovation, we did not have in mind creating a Disneyland for children, no megalomania, but to renovate the premises where the bloody crime took place. First of all, the entrance to the school, the corridors, to isolate the scene of the crime, so that the children who return to school do not experience the trauma again, and so that the students who will yet attend that school don't focus on it," said the father.

The parent of a student from this school confirmed for us that members of the MUP (Interior Ministry) will also attend tomorrow's meeting at the school:

"Their support means a lot to us, but we would also like to agree with the City Administration to provide space for the children to integrate into the community, until they fix the school premises," he concluded.

Starting on Monday at 8:00 am one of the six measures proposed by President Aleksandar Vucic after the mass shooting in the Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school started to be implemented, another 1,200 police officers have beeen deployed in schools, and it is expected that students will return to the Vracar school on May 10.

(Telegraf.rs)