WE WERE GOOD STUDENTS, BUT WE WILL NEVER BE COMPLIANT PUPILS: The school principal in New Belgrade threatens eighth graders with police over inscriptions on their T-shirts!

The last day of classes this school year for eighth-grade students is Friday, May 29, when the primary school graduates traditionally celebrate the end of primary school with a celebration in the school yard.

But one class of eighth graders at the “Đuro Strugar” primary school in Belgrade is now being threatened with punishments and a ban on celebrating the end of their eight-year education in this manner due to the inscriptions on their T-shirts, Danas.rs writes.

Parents were informed about what happened in this primary school over the past week through a message from the Parents’ Council.

“As you know, every year graduates organize a celebration on the last day of school, and it is a custom for each class to print their own souvenir T-shirts with text. Children in all schools try to come up with a gimmick that will catch everyone’s eye,” reads the message received by the parents, which Danas had insight into.

It is further added that this year, the students of one eighth-grade class, during their homeroom class and in the presence of their homeroom teacher, chose the text “We were good students, but we will never be compliant pupils”.

“The T-shirts arrived on Monday, May 13. The acting principal found out about the inscription, and that is when the threats and blackmail towards the children began. She banned them from wearing those T-shirts to the celebration and demanded that they print new T-shirts with a different inscription if they wanted a celebration in the school yard. She threatened that otherwise, she would call the police to stop the celebration,” states the message received by the parents.

The Parents’ Council claims that their former school teacher also joined in the pressure on the children, moving from the story of how they should not engage in politics at school to demanding that the children go individually to apologize to the acting principal.

“Nobody explained to the children why an apology is necessary and what is controversial about the inscription they chose,” the message reads.

On Friday, a homeroom class followed where, for reasons unknown, the school teacher appeared, continuing to persuade the children to change the inscription on the T-shirts.

“Then the children proposed the inscription ‘When I grow up I will be a student’, which caused anger in the teacher, who told them: ‘You think I am crazy and who tells you that you will be students’, after which he left the class. We must note that the homeroom teacher told the children that he is not asking them to change the inscription and that he will stand by them whatever they decide,” reads the message received by the parents.

The Parents’ Council says that the children remained firm in their stance, and the acting principal informed them that there would be no celebration, that Friday would be a regular school day, and that the T-shirts were banned during classes.

“After classes and outside the school yard, they can do whatever they want. The parents, apart from supporting the children to decide for themselves what they want, did not get directly involved in this situation. This was not enough for the teacher, so on Friday evening, he demanded that the homeroom teacher forward his messages to the parents within the shared Viber group, in which he attacked the parents for imposing the text on the children, pushing them into politics, ruining their field trip, their graduation at school, and creating a terrible atmosphere before graduation…”, the message states.

It is added that the Parents’ Council convened a meeting with the intention of having the school principal explain her stance and, if possible, find a compromise solution, but neither the acting school principal nor the school teacher responded to the invitation.

“The Parents’ Council protests against the behavior of the school administration towards its students, exposing them to inappropriate pressure and blackmail. If the children committed any offense, then the parents should have been called to the school for a meeting. In particular, the question arises on what grounds 14-year-old children are being threatened with the police and whether such an approach is appropriate for an educational institution. The Parents’ Council supports the students, who have the right to express their stance and opinion. The message on the T-shirt is neither offensive nor vulgar, which is why it remains unclear why the school made such a big problem out of it and why the whole situation was presented as a serious incident,” is the position of the Parents’ Council.

They noted that “if the school management wants to run the school with threats, blackmail, and force instead of through dialogue and cooperation with parents,” then they have no choice but to stand firmly by their children, who in this situation behaved more like adults than those who should be their role models.

The editorial board of Danas called the acting principal of the “Đuro Strugar” primary school, Zdravka Brkić Kojić, to hear her side of the story as well, but she did not want to comment on the allegations of the Parents’ Council.

“By law, the school is not obliged to organize a graduation celebration on the last day of school,” was all she said.

Due to these events, citizens living in Block 37, where this school is located, are announcing a gathering in support of the eighth graders on Friday at 11:30 AM in front of “Strugar”.

Their invitation was published on the social network X, on the account Blok 37 Zajednička akcija.