The reasons for this

“Violence in schools will increase massively”

There were almost 180 violent crimes in Upper Austria's educational institutions alone last year.(Bild: Oliver Berg)

Crime in classrooms rose by 76 percent after corona. Violence educator Alexander Geyrhofer explains the reasons for this and what could be done about it. He has a gloomy forecast for the future: "We haven't reached the end of the line yet."

The "Krone" newspaper reported alarming facts last week: the number of crimes in Upper Austria's schools and educational institutions rose by three quarters after the coronavirus pandemic.

While a total of 497 crimes were registered in 2021, a year that was still partly affected by home schooling, this figure rose to 875 in 2023. Most of these, more than 500, were so-called offenses against third-party property, such as theft. However, almost 180 assaults, i.e. acts of violence, were also reported. A trend that does not surprise Alexander Geyrhofer (60).