In IUSTITIA: Czech Education Minister Bek and Hodonín school principal are trivializing bullying, the state must create systemic measures to address it
The In IUSTITIA organization is sharply criticizing the reactions of Czech Education Minister Mikuláš Bek and the principal of the Vančurova Primary School in Hodonín, Andrej Pavlíků, to the case of the longtime bullying of a 12-year-old girl there. According to the organization, both Bek and Pavlíků are trivializing the longstanding situation of this victim.
According to In IUSTITIA, in light of the recent bullying incident that was publicized, the school has not addressed the situation sufficiently, even though the mother of the victimized girl has been repeatedly warning them about what has been happening to her daughter. In IUSTITIA is also pointing out that while the school organized psychological interventions for its pupils and their parents related to this recent incident, it has never offered such targeted aid to the victim.
In IUSTITIA also reports that support for the victims of crimes committed in schools is missing from both the criminal justice system and the school system. “We do not consider it responsible for the principal of this school to speak about this whole situation as if he were unaware that this minor has faced bullying for a longer time on the school grounds,” the In IUSTITIA representatives said in a statement sent to news server Romea.cz.
Attacks motivated by bias are both very serious and frequently ignored. Have you ever been the victim of bias crime? Call the free phone line of the In IUSTITIA organization, 800 922 922, or contact the ROMEA, o.p.s. organization.
The organization is providing comprehensive support both to the bullied girl and her mother, involving social counseling, therapy, and legal aid, including legal representation provided by attorneys Mgr. Klára Kalibová, Ph.D. and Mgr. Petra Naskosová of the Law Offices of Kalibová Naskosová. The attorneys added that the mother of the assaulted girl has been repeatedly turning to the school with requests to resolve the situation since 2023.
According to the attorneys, the school arranged psychological interventions for pupils and their parents in the aftermath of the recent incident, but has yet to offer targeted aid to the victim. “No assistance has been provided by the school to this minor, such as contacts for psychological help. The minor’s mother, therefore, had to find such aid for her daughter all on her own,” said attorney Kalibová, who is the director of In IUSTITIA.
According to the organization, the principal of the school has not reached out to the mother of the bullied girl, never offered to meet her in person, and has undertaken no other informal communication with her, communicating with her only by email and a software application used by the schools.
Bek: Parents primarily bear responsibility
Education Minister Bek said recently after visiting the school that the behavior of children after school is primarily their parents’ responsibility. “They are responsible for what kind of people their children grow up to be. Naturally, school plays a significant role in improving the prevention of behaviors, but the family role is crucial,” he opined.
Bek said he does not believe it is reasonable to call for the principal’s resignation. He is waiting for the conclusions of the investigations into the recent incident by the Czech School Inspectorate and the police.
According to Bek, the Hodonín school is doing a good job because there are educational psychologists working in town and collaboration with police has prevented such incidents from recurring. “The meeting persuaded me that in Hodonín there is good cooperation between the establisher and the schools, where educational psychologists have been working for quite some time. The collaboration with the police also works well because a second security incident managed to be prevented,” Bek said.
Principal Pavlíků previously said he had no idea something like the recently publicized incident could happen after school. Today he reminded the press that the school has taken measures to make sure this will not recur.
“We had special interventions with psychologists with the children and their parents. I myself instructed the children on how they should behave in such situations and we are considering other preventive programs. For example, we are considering a self-defense course, that came out of a debate with the children who want to know how to actively defend themselves,” the principal said.
According to the principal, the atmosphere at the school has calmed down thanks to the spring holiday and life is returning to normal at the school. “Police are still investigating the assault,” he said.
The town has long supported preventive programs and the work of psychologists in the schools. According to Mayor Libor Střecha (“For Hodonín”), local police will also focus on gatherings of juveniles.
In IUSTITIA: Schools are unprepared to aid victims
According to In IUSTITIA, the readiness of schools to respond to the presence of a crime victim among their pupils is insufficient. “It is necessary to create a detailed methodological recommendation to address the needs of such pupils, including crisis intervention, legal representation and psychotherapy,” Kalibová and Naskosová said.
The attorneys are also criticizing a systemic problem whereby a minor victim of a crime is not required to have legal representation present while being questioned about the crime itself, while the minor suspects are entitled to the presence of defense counsel by law. The organization, therefore, is calling on the state to create systemic measures to provide better support to minor victims of crime.
“We believe it is in the interest of the Czech state to find an answer to the question of how to sufficiently, systematically provide aid and support to crime victims, especially minors,” the organization said.
Response to the statements by the principal of the Vančurova Primary School in Hodonín and the Minister of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic, Mikuláš Bek, made on 17 February 2025:
The In IUSTITIA o.p.s. organization, Mgr. Klára Kalibová, Ph.D. and Mgr. Petra Naskosová consider it necessary to provide a statement on some of the remarks made by the principal of the Vančurova Primary School, Andrej Pavlíků, and the Minister of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic, Mikuláš Bek, to the media after the minister visited Hodonín on 17 February 2025.
We do not consider it responsible for the principal of this school to speak about this whole situation as if he were unaware that this minor has faced bullying for a longer time on the school grounds
It is true that the assault on the minor now being examined by police did not take place on school grounds. However, that attack was the culmination of longstanding bullying of this minor, which her mother has been raising with the school since 2023 at the least. The minor has faced repeated, escalating assaults in the school environment. In more than one case, her mother turned to the school and requested that the whole situation be addressed.
We perceive it as positive that the school took the step of organizing special interventions with psychologists which were provided to pupils and their parents in the aftermath of the recent incident. However, it is necessary to add that the school has not yet offered a similar intervention by a psychologist to the assaulted minor. The step that was taken was for all the other pupils in the school, not for this minor. No assistance has been provided by the school to this minor, such as contacts for psychological help. The minor’s mother, therefore, had to find such aid for her daughter all on her own.
The mother has also actively attempted to arrange the option of individual education for the minor, but the principal did not respond to her request until, after he delayed doing so, the mother repeatedly urged him for a response. He has not initiated any supportive steps towards the victim and her mother on his own and communicates with the mother exclusively via the Bakaláři application or by email. Since the attack, he has not contacted the mother by phone, nor has he offered to meet in person or any other more informal form of communication.
From a systemic point of view, schools are not sufficiently prepared for the presence of crime victims in the school community. It is therefore necessary to create detailed methodological recommendations focusing on comprehensively addressing the needs of such pupils/students (crisis intervention, psychotherapy, socio-legal counseling and legal representation).
As for the criminal proceedings themselves, we reiterate that it is not possible to provide any further information about them while they are ongoing. However, we do consider it problematic that the current legislation allows a minor victim to be procedurally questioned without a legal representative present. By contrast, a minor offender must by law have a defense attorney present during the proceedings. We have also recorded the methodological failure of the police to provide victims with sufficient time to choose a representative and a confidant.
We believe it is in the interest of the Czech state to find an answer to the question of how to sufficiently, systematically provide aid and support to crime victims, especially minors.
