"One more tool to combat the phenomenon of bullying". Thus the mayor of Cento (Ferrara), Edoardo Accorsi, aged 29, defines the article which will soon enter the urban police regulation of his Municipality and which establishes the sanctioning of the families of young bullies.
In the new regulation, which will be voted on March 22, article 7 bis has been inserted, divided into six paragraphs, which essentially introduces the possibility for the administration to challenge an administrative fine from 100 to 300 euros to those who have parental authority of children who were to adopt attitudes in the school environment and outside that can "constitute prejudice for urban safety and harm to civil coexistence". In other words, if the children are wrong, the parents pay too.
«The idea comes from the experience we have had in this year and a half of administration», explains the young mayor of the Democratic Party , «where we have been called to intervene in various situations of bullying, together with the local police, the forces of order and at school."
Intimidating and aggressive behaviour, which is forbidden "in all public areas, open to the public - reads the text of the regulation - inside schools, their appurtenances and on public transport vehicles", will therefore turn into fines for the families of bullies. And "the violations will be considered ascertained, even on the mere basis of testimonial information taken from teachers, students, school operators and anyone who can report useful elements".
It is a "concrete thing", Accorsi always explains, "even if the application has not yet been tested and we will therefore have to evaluate whether it works, but we are not the first administration that has adopted it".
A similar regulation is already in force in the Municipality of Lonigo, in the province of Vicenza and in Cameri, in the province of Novara, and in both cases the fines can reach up to 500 euros. The mayor underlines that the "new tool" is an "institutional synthesis", discussed first with the local police, law enforcement agencies and educational institutions, which obviously will have to ascertain intimidating or aggressive attitudes.
"We certainly don't want to replace those who already have the task of supervising and intervening in safety matters, but this problem must all be tackled together".
The fine «is also an incentive for the awareness of families, which in some cases tend to reduce the phenomenon of bullying. In any case - he explains - there will also be the possibility for parents to turn the fine into an educational and recovery project for their child".
(Unioneonline)
