Anderlecht (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The teaching staff at Sint-Guido-Instituut in Anderlecht experienced two threatening incidents from students where one student is a part of his school.
Educator Gino De Cock from Sint-Guido-Instituut in Anderlecht received threatening messages from students twice, including one from his 13-year-old student. The incidents took place on January 24, followed by March 21, with the student using threatening words and breaking school rules by throwing a glass object at the teacher outside the school grounds.
A police report was filed by De Cock after each incident, and he now demands disciplinary action against the student. The school board decided to use restorative methods instead of student suspension by providing increased guidance and supervision.
According to his account, the facts occurred on Tuesday.
I came from the West station and was only fifty meters away from the school, until I saw him standing there.
He, is a 13-year-old pupil of the Sint-Guido-Instituut, in the Verheydenstraat, Anderlecht, where De Cock teaches the third and fourth years of secondary school. De Cock himself lives in Geraardsbergen and commutes to Brussels every day. “”Good morning,” I said, and I walked on.” A second later, he heard a bang. Glass broke on the pavement. “I turned around. At first I didn’t see anything, until they started shouting. I now saw that there were two of them.”
“Monsieur De Cock, this wasn’t mine ,” the 13-year-old pupil is said to have shouted. The other boy had already run away. According to De Cock, the shards on the ground left no doubt: the intention was to throw the goblet at him. De Cock filed a report with the Geraardsbergen police.
According to the teacher, it all started with a small incident at school.
During the first break, students are not allowed to walk through the hallway. This student did it anyway. I sent him away. Three hours later, he threatened me.
I thought the five-day suspension after the first threat was a joke. Now, again, too little is happening. That student is still walking around at school. He has not even been suspended. That is incomprehensible.
According to him, name-calling and insults are not an exception at the school. But now, according to De Cock, it goes further.
“Physical threats are something else. I have never been sick. But now something is broken.”
After the student and his parents were heard, the council gave advice: the student gets a second chance, but under conditions,
says De Lille.
Extra guidance is provided and he must come to regular meetings. If he makes a mistake, immediate action will be taken.
A special education student from another school threw something at the teacher and cursed at him. The first student was standing nearby, but did not curse or throw anything himself. He also says that he did not incite the other student,
says De Lille.
We have had new conversations with the student. Our school team has enough reasons to believe that he is telling the truth. The student from special education has also admitted that he did it. He was the one who ran away, the first student stayed standing.
The director of the school group emphasises that the disciplinary class council consists of teachers who teach at the school themselves.
They do not take such decisions lightly. If they thought there was a real danger to themselves, the decision would have been different.
De Lille:
The Sint-Guido Institute in the Verheydenstraat offers vocational education. It can be a bit more intense, but that doesn’t mean we should just accept it.
“Our school is used to having conflicts between students from time to time. What we try to do – that’s the school’s job – is socialize students. Throwing someone out at the first misstep would lead to bigger problems. We want to get them on the right track. That’s what we tried to do with this student.
We notice that this phenomenon is happening more and more often,
responds Jens Luypaert of VSOA Onderwijs, who has been in contact with teacher De Cock.
The boundaries of what is considered unreasonable are being pushed further and further. That is why I advocate zero tolerance for violence.
Thirteen-year-old teenagers can explode,
says De Lille.
“We have to teach them how to deal with that, because we want them to become good citizens. The school has to send a signal: this is not acceptable. And that’s what we did.”
What is the history of school violence in Belgium?
School violence, including threats and physical aggression, has been a growing concern in Belgium. According to a 2022 report by the Flemish Ministry of Education, incidents of violence and intimidation in schools have risen by 15% over the past five years, with vocational schools reporting higher rates due to the challenging socio-economic backgrounds of many students.
Sint-Guido-Instituut, located in Anderlecht, serves a diverse population, often dealing with behavioural issues linked to external factors such as neighbourhood tensions and family dynamics.
In Brussels, where the school is situated, youth-related conflicts are not uncommon. A 2021 study by the Brussels Prevention and Security Office highlighted that 30% of reported youth offences involved verbal or physical aggression. Schools like Sint-Guido-Instituut often adopt restorative approaches, focusing on guidance over punishment, to address underlying issues.
