A video posted to social media showed a young Ukrainian girl being bullied by her schoolmates during a school trip. The girl is in a class in an elementary school in Opočno, eastern Bohemia. Petr Pavel, the President of Czechia, flew into action when the clip came to his attention. Taking to twitter, with a photograph of himself meeting the girl, he said:
„I denounce bullying, humiliation, and violence in schools in all cases. But it is particularly shameful when it targets a child who was forced to leave her country and her friends because of the war, and to whom we offered shelter.”
Interior Minister Vít Rakušan criticised the behaviour, stating that it was a „spit in the face of our civilisation” and showed how cruel and stupid peoples’ behaviour can be. Education Minister Mikuláš Bek emphasised the unacceptable nature of bullying and urged teachers to stand up against it.
Pavel appreciated the school and parents’ efforts to address the issue, but said the girl’s soul would remain scarred. The school’s principal, Eva Aleksandrova, assured journalists that the school would resolve the issue with the parents and did not endorse such behaviour.
