World occasions have usually equipped excuses for bullying. The Covid-19 pandemic introduced a wave of harassment for Asian kids, and in 2016, after a sequence of Islamic State terrorist assaults, Muslim kids reported a rise in bullying. Now, Mr. Stahl stated, misery over the conflict in Ukraine has added new targets for the sort of vindictive habits that may lead kids to keep away from faculty and, in some instances, end in melancholy and suicidal ideas.
In Harsefeld, a city exterior Hamburg, Anastasia Makisson, 13, who’s Russian-German, acquired a number of nameless notes at school calling her a Nazi and urging her to return to Russia to “drink vodka with Putin.”
She stated college students had additionally come as much as her and shouted, “Putin!” Anastasia preferred faculty, however because the newest notes appeared in April, she has not gone again out of worry. “I’m scared somebody might hit me,” she stated in an interview. “Everyone stares at me. It’s as in the event that they’re considering, ‘Eww, she’s Russian.’”
Her father, Ilya Makisson, stated the college had promised to research however had not acted to this point; the college didn’t reply to a request for remark.
A couple of week after Russia invaded Ukraine, Elisa Spadoni, 13, who’s Russian-Italian, wrapped up her homework at her home in central Italy and checked her class WhatsApp group. Within the chat, one classmate referred to as her “daughter of Putin.” One other message learn, “You would possibly as nicely die.”
When the woman requested her classmates to cease, one boy replied, “We’ll cease as soon as you’ll cease throwing missiles on Ukraine.” He additionally wrote: “Tomorrow I’ll beat her up.”