Prime Minister Donald Tusk believes the wave of knife attacks in Polish schools is fuelled by the glorification of violence on the internet – BBC reports. The police are to increase patrols around schools, and the government announces systemic changes.
What happened at the schools
On Wednesday, 7 October, at around 11 a.m. at Vocational School Complex No. 4 in Ostrołęka, a 19-year-old student attacked nine people with a knife: five students, two teachers and two bystanders. As Polsat News reported, the injured were taken to hospitals in Łomża and Ostrołęka, and their lives are not in danger. The District Prosecutor’s Office in Ostrołęka opened an investigation into attempted murder. According to media reports, the perpetrator also had a homemade explosive device on him.
A day later, on Thursday, 8 October, a 15-year-old former student attacked at the Saint John Paul II Primary School in Leszczydół-Nowiny near Wyszków. The Mazovian police said he injured, among others, the headmaster and a female employee of the school; according to media reports, one person died. The Prime Minister spoke of a “juvenile killer” who had a helmet with a camera and intended to record the attack.
What the Prime Minister says
On Thursday, Tusk convened an urgent meeting with the ministers of the interior, digital affairs, education and health, the coordinator of special services and the national police commander; government spokesman Adam Szłapka informed about this on X. In a video posted online, the Prime Minister said that on the internet evil seems unpunished and violence attractive, and that this “is slowly moving from cyberspace” onto the streets, into schools and homes. He announced systemic changes, stressing that “it is about the lives of young Poles”. BBC presents this thesis as the main point of the Prime Minister’s statement.
Decisions and alarms
Tusk asked the police to appear at every school at least once a day as part of routine patrols, including inside the buildings. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński confirmed on X that the orders had reached county police headquarters and that officers will enter schools after agreeing with the headmaster.
Announcements of further attacks on Friday, 9 October, circulated online. According to media reports, Kierwiński and the police said that seized storage devices did not confirm the existence of such a “challenge”, and the reports were described as false. The media also report dozens of detentions of teenagers for online threats or possession of dangerous objects – the number requires confirmation in a police statement.
What it means
Parents can expect more frequent police presence near and inside schools, coordinated with school management. Threats posted online, including jokingly, are being treated seriously and may end in a teenager’s detention. Details of the systemic changes – concerning, for example, online platforms or school procedures – have not yet been presented.
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