A TEN-YEAR old primary student was forced to smoke a cigarette in the toilets of his Lakatamia school by two students of a neighbouring Gymnasium.
The incident took place on Wednesday at the Ayios Mama ‘B’ Primary School in Lakatamia during a mid-morning break.
Two 14-year-olds, who were former students of the school, illegally entered the premises and approached the boy, who it is believed they already knew.
The led him to the toilets, where they locked themselves into a cubicle. One lit a cigarette and pressed it to the victim’s lips, while the other held down his hands.
According to reports, the ten-year-old was left in a state of shock.
One of the school’s teachers had seen the boys come into the school and they were caught as they came out of the toilets.
Parents and the police were notified of what had happened with discussions on what steps to take ongoing.
Alekos Kourato is the head of Primary Education at the Education Ministry and he yesterday told the Mail that the Ministry is taking the incident very seriously.
“The two culprits, who are now in year two at the Archangel Michael Gymnnasium, have been causing trouble for a while now,” he explained.
“The previous day, the pair again illegally entered the school’s premises and confronted the headmistress in her office. They demanded that she hand over some cash so they could buy sandwiches and said that they would vandalise school property if she didn’t comply.
According to Kourato they have also in the past broken school windows and damaged teachers’ cars.
He added that the brother of one of the trouble-makers is in the same class as the ten-year-old.
“The boys display classic symptoms of anti-social behaviour and have difficulty in communicating,” he said. “When they were asked why they had forced their victim to smoke, they replied it was all just a bit of harmless fun.”
Kourato said the boys have been severely reprimanded by their school, parents and the police and warned over their future behaviour. A Ministry psychologist, will also be speaking with them.
“Our aim here is to deal with this problem as effectively as possible and to try and ensure that this type of thing never happens again,” he said.
The incident has come hot on the heels of another case of bullying which shocked the country. Twelve days ago, the Mega channel broadcast images of a school playground attack where the perpetrators filmed their actions on their mobile phones and circulated the video to friends.
The attack, at a Limassol Gymnasium, featured two female 15-year-old pupils turning on a 14-year-old girl.
At first, the bullies are seen to slap their victim across the face and pull her hair, with the assault, which lasted for 45 minutes, gradually becoming more violent and ending up with the girl on the floor.
The two girls pictured in the attack were immediately expelled. There was no word on action against the students who stood by and watched.
Commenting on the recent spate of bullyings, Justice Minister Sophocles Sophocleous described the incidents as, “unacceptable and worrying.” He added that neither police action nor other measures would have any effect unless parents take responsibility for the behaviour of their children.
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