President Milanović at social workers’ gathering: Tolerance for school violence is low, which is good and should continue to be so
The President of the Republic attended at Tuheljske Toplice today the opening of the 12th Social Workers’ Conference entitled “Art, science, ethics and aesthetics of social work”.
“Someone consciously or not divided two worlds in the title of the conference: art and science belong to the theory of learning and knowledge, while ethics and aesthetics are learning about values. Everyone has something to say about this especially related to ethics. The ethos or character of this line of work is such that from the beginning you choose an education that will inevitably lead to a job of helping someone over whom you exercise no real power or domination. There are few such professions and vocations as teachers, nurses, social pedagogues, defectologists, speech therapists and social workers. Your profession is special and that’s why I’m here with you today”, the President told the gathering, adding that he hopes their sacrifice will be recognized and valued.
In terms of violence in schools, President Milanović recalled that when he was growing up the tolerance level for violence was higher. “Today that tolerance level is quite low and that’s good, especially in the case of boys’ upbringing and this should continue”, he noted.
Subsequently he referred to the recent tragic event in Serbia when a boy took the lives of other children and said that this act is a warning from the point of view of social ethics as well as the profession of social workers. “That level of aggression of this boy, whose father took him to a shooting range, led to this event. To teach a child to shoot means to teach him to harm someone and to take his life in an easier way. The attitude towards weapons is an extremely important because where there are weapons, there is shooting. Weapons in a civilized society are exclusively carried by the police and the army who use them in accordance with clearly prescribed protocols. Everything else, except in the case of hunters, has no justification”, he stated in concluding his address, and added that he would like this to be talked about preventively in Croatia.
Alongside President Milanović was the Adviser to the President for Human Rights and Civil Society.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Filip Glas