Both punish and prevent: teachers and parents will answer for stabbing at school

As Novye Izvestia has already reported, on February 8, a fifth-grader of the Lyceum No. 10 in Khimki attacked her classmate Sonya. She brought a knife from home, and, luring Sonya into a toilet stall under the pretext of a surprise, inflicted at least 26 stab wounds on her head, neck, torso and limbs. Sonya was taken to the hospital with significant blood loss, her life in the intensive care unit was supported by a ventilator, and doctors did not guarantee her preservation. The wounds were sewn up and blood transfused for four hours.

Sonya regained consciousness a day later, now her life is not in danger, but she will have a long rehabilitation. Parents and lawyers are clarifying requests to plastic surgery centers to understand how much it will cost to restore the child's appearance.

Two criminal cases were immediately initiated: on the attempted murder of a minor (Part 3 of Article 30, part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code) and on the negligence of officials responsible for ensuring security in an educational institution (Article 293 of the Criminal Code).

And so on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, Sonya's parents filed a claim for 20 million rubles for compensation for moral damage to the school, its management and the parents of the attacker, since according to paragraph 3 of Article 1073 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, if the child who caused harm is under the supervision of an educational organization at this time, the organization or a person, if he does not prove that the harm was not caused by their fault. At the same time, paragraph 7 of Article 28 of the law "On Education" establishes that an educational organization is responsible for the life and health of students.

The homeroom teacher, according to Sonya's parents, did not even come to the scene and could not tell what condition the child was in. Neither the class teacher nor the director knew which hospital Sonya was taken to, none of the teachers went with her to the medical facility.

Here 's what Sonya's mom Elena said in an interview:

"In this difficult situation, it is important not just to find the culprits. Our goal is to prevent this from happening to other children. The only way to achieve this is to introduce systemic changes in the interaction between students, schools and parents. It is necessary to thoroughly understand the causes of what happened and how it could have been prevented. I believe that an attempt to solve the problem not situationally, but comprehensively will make it possible to avoid the recurrence of such tragedies in the future..."

The case of the injured girl is led by lawyer Victoria Dergunova, one of the co-authors of the bill on bullying, who received many critical responses to this bill at the time.

Now, opponents of protection from school violence were able to see what the statement leads to, that bullying does not happen in Russian schools, that it was all invented by feminists.

Experts do not deny that children can be cruel, but the situations in which they find themselves are modeled by parents, school, environment, and in Russia today there are no tools that could help work not only with the consequences, but also with the prevention of bullying.

Dergunova herself comments on the situation in this way:

"What happened is a direct consequence of gaps in legislation concerning issues of responsibility in situations when educational institutions encounter deviations in the behavior of students. We believe that we will not only be able to achieve compensation for the damage caused - although we all understand that it would be wrong to talk about compensation in full in such situations – but also to change the current situation in legislation, which currently does not give the school tools to control the behavior of students and leverage in difficult situations. The court's decision will demonstrate clearly how much the state estimates the 26 injuries of a child, and whether it is ready to change the current realities so that such situations do not arise, and children can feel safe within the walls of educational institutions..."

As part of the investigation of criminal cases, a series of examinations has been appointed.

Specialists continue to work at the scene, interviewing dozens of witnesses. Lawyers note that the robber will avoid criminal responsibility for the attack on a classmate, since she has not reached the age of 14.