Why have attacks on schools been repeated in Brazil? Experts analyze

A 13-year-old youth killed a teacher and injured five others when he invaded the Thomazia Montoro State School, in the west zone of São Paulo.

Elisabete Tenreiro, the fatal victim of the incident, was 71 years old. According to the secretary of Public Security of São Paulo, Guilherme Derrite, the teenager also injured three other teachers and two students.

In an interview with CNN Colonel José Vicente da Silva, former National Security Secretary, and Telma Vinha, doctor in education and professor at Unicamp, discussed the reasons for the increase in attacks on schools in Brazil and possible containment measures.

In the last 21 years, there have been 22 attacks on schools perpetrated by students or former students, most of them in public schools, according to data collected by the study group in which the specialist participates.

“Before we had one every year and then it would jump. In the last nine months, we’ve had nine attacks. If we consider that in the last 21 years we had 22, having nine attacks in the last few months is a very big increase and means that others will happen”, said Telma Vinha.

According to the scholar, a combination of factors is driving the increase in incidents of this type, including easy access to hate speech propagated on the internet, easier access to firearms and suffering within the school.

“We have a radicalization of youth. They are increasingly frequenting extremist forums, where they are radicalized. The sum of radicalization, increasingly easier access to the internet, learning how to carry out these attacks, plus suffering at school and other factors, forms a cauldron, a situation that facilitates these attacks to occur”, said the doctor in education .

In Silva’s view, a set of measures is necessary to face this increase. “Often there are bullying movements towards certain students, who in a revolt bid, joining their personal and family problems, can have these desperate acts”.