"Teacher was washing the board while my son was being beaten." A third-grader had his teeth knocked out in a Minsk school; his mother went to court and won
During a break near the staff room, two classmates attacked a boy: one held his hands behind his back, while the other punched him in the face. The child had three molars broken at once.
The editors of "Mocnyja Naviny" (Strong News) were contacted by the mother of a 10-year-old boy who was beaten at school. The woman secured compensation and decided to make the story public to draw attention to the problem of child safety in educational institutions.
The incident occurred back in April of last year in a Minsk school, but only recently concluded. The boy was in the third grade at the time.
According to the mother, after the third lesson during the break, near the staff room, her son was attacked by classmates — two best friends: one grabbed his hands and held them behind his back, the other punched him in the face. The child had three lower molars broken at once. When the bell rang, everyone returned to class.
The mother is particularly outraged by the reaction (or rather, the lack thereof) from the school staff. According to the internal regulations, a teacher should be on duty during the break at this time.
However, according to the woman, the class teacher was in the classroom at the time of the incident: washing the board and handing out notebooks.
"My son entered the class after the fight crying, with a red cheek and in a dejected state. The teacher saw this but paid no attention and didn't even ask what happened. As a result, Daniil sat through the entire lesson with bleeding and toothache, forced to just swallow the blood," the boy's mother shares.
Since the son's aggressor had not yet reached the age of criminal or administrative responsibility, the case against him was dropped. The woman filed a lawsuit against the educational institution, believing that the school had failed to provide adequate supervision for the children.
After lengthy proceedings, the court sided with the victims.
The school was ordered to pay 408 rubles in material damages and 2000 rubles for moral damages.
But, of course, money is not the main thing here (although it plays a huge role when it comes to complex dental treatment).
"My child has a lifelong trauma. I want this story to be a reminder to all schools: on-duty supervision during breaks is not a formality, but a duty on which the health and lives of our children depend," the mother concluded.