“As a Ministry of Education, we have a duty to see children not only as students, but first and foremost as young people with needs, anxieties, feelings and sensitivities. It is our duty to foster every day a school environment that fosters respect, acceptance and meaningful support for children.” This was said, among other things, on the occasion of the tragic incident with the two schoolgirls in Ilioupoli, by the Minister of Education, Sophia Zacharaki in a post on social media.
She noted that she saw “with anger and disappointment a tragedy with child victims becoming a spectacle without a sense of responsibility” and pointed out: “before anything else, we must stand with absolute respect for the children themselves, their families, their friends and the people who are experiencing this pain. This is no time for hasty conclusions or easy analyses.”
“We stand in deep sadness in the face of an event that shocks us as parents, as educators, as a society,” said Ms. Zacharaki added that the Ministry of Education’s duty is “to see children not only as students, but primarily as young people with needs, anxieties, feelings and sensitivities” and “to strengthen a school environment that fosters respect, acceptance and effective support for children”.
“We all have a duty – the State, the media, society – to show restraint and responsibility. We must respect the two children and the pain of their families, but also the struggle that thousands of students are currently fighting. Let us be more careful with our words. More available to listen. Closer to our children. No child should feel alone,” she concluded.
Below is the full post of the Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, Sophia Zacharaki:
“I consciously chose to remain silent in the first hours but unfortunately I watched with anger and frustration a tragedy with child victims being made a spectacle without any sense of responsibility.
Before anything else, we must stand in absolute respect for the children themselves, their families, their friends and the people who are experiencing this pain. This is no time for hasty conclusions or easy analyses.
But it’s another reminder that many children around us are fighting silent battles every day that adults don’t always see in time.
That’s why we need to be more present. To listen in substance. To observe more. Building relationships of trust and safety so that every child feels they have space to talk and people to support them.
As a Ministry of Education, we have a responsibility to see children not just as students, but first and foremost as young people with needs, struggles, feelings and sensitivities. It is our duty to foster a school environment every day that fosters respect, acceptance and meaningful support for children.
At the same time, we must steadily strengthen psychosocial support structures, the presence of specialists in schools and information and prevention initiatives so that no child feels invisible or alone. This is a responsibility that does not only belong to the school or the family.
It is everyone’s responsibility. The state, the educational community, the media, society as a whole.
We all have a duty – the State, the media, society – to show restraint and responsibility.
Let’s be more careful with our words. More available to listen. Closer to our children. No child should feel alone.”
