Right-wing extremism in schools: Greifswald students expelled!

Right-wing extremism in schools: Greifswald students expelled!

A worrying incident has caused a stir in Greifswald in the last few days. Two students from the local school were expelled from school after a right-wing extremist incident during a study trip to Auschwitz. This decision was made by Baltic Sea newspaper confirmed, which also reported on a video recording showing a young person in the memorial area making a right-wing extremist white power gesture. Felix Wizowsky, chairman of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Student Council, described the incident as the “tip of the iceberg” and emphasized that right-wing extremist statements and incidents in schools were increasingly becoming the order of the day.

Educational institutions are currently being affected by a wave of right-wing extremist statements, and the number of unreported cases of such incidents is high. The student representatives of the eastern German federal states complain about a falling inhibition threshold and are demanding consistent countermeasures from politicians. daily news reports on frightening incidents such as swastikas in classrooms and right-wing extremist ideas that are taught in class.

On the inaction of schools

A major problem is the lack of response from schools to right-wing extremist incidents. Such incidents often go unreported out of fear of a bad reputation or violating political neutrality. Felix Wizowsky said that students walk around the schoolyard wearing clothes that show half a swastika and call themselves Nazis. Parents often block measures to combat these developments. In the current context, the parents of the expelled ninth graders have already filed urgent proceedings with the administrative court in Greifswald to challenge the expulsions.
A non-public hearing is imminent, although no further information will be provided due to the age of those involved.

The situation in schools requires urgent action. The education ministries of the respective federal states refer to existing strategies to combat right-wing extremism, but reality tells a different story. In Saxony in particular, the number of right-wing extremist incidents rose from 73 in 2019 to 149 in 2023, highlighting the urgency of reform. Various state student councils are therefore in favor of strengthening the subjects of politics and social studies as well as further training for teachers in dealing with right-wing extremist ideas.

The role of teachers

Surveys have shown that many teachers are unsettled and often do not intervene when they perceive right-wing radical statements or actions. Examples of teachers who were met with hostility after right-wing extremist incidents were made public are not uncommon. Educational researcher Nina Kolleck therefore calls for systematic training and further education for teachers in order to strengthen them in preventative work. After all, the University of Potsdam offers seminars, but they are not mandatory. In other federal states such as Saxony, such training courses are now mandatory for prospective teachers.

The need for more educational offerings on this topic is seen not only by teachers themselves, but also in publications such as those of Federal Agency for Civic Education who provide materials and handouts. These aim to raise awareness among young people about how to deal with right-wing extremism and racism.

The situation clearly shows that there is still a long way to go for schools in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and beyond to combat right-wing extremist hatred. A more intensive discussion of the topic, both among teachers and students, is urgently needed so that something like the incident in Greifswald does not become normal.