Albania School violence and the rights of minors

November 30, 2010

Comment: Reflecting on a specific event relating to a high school incident in Tirana where two minors stabbed another minor, this opinion article seeks to raise awareness about the larger issue of respecting and protecting children’s rights regardless of context. In addition to respecting the rights and privacy of children, the article goes a step further by focusing the spotlight on actual violations of children’s right to privacy in Albania by both school directors and journalists. The author makes a strong case for respecting and protecting these rights in accordance with legal obligations, the professional codes of ethics and general societal concerns that should be informed by the principle of the best interests of the child.

Notwithstanding the shock effect this incident produced in the Albanian society, the article seeks to draw attention to the gross violations of children’s rights by both the deputy school director who revealed the identities of the minors to the local and national media, as well as the journalists and news-editors who disclosed the minor’s identities without concern for their right to privacy, protection and welfare. The article presents an accurate picture of how children’s rights to privacy and protection are routinely violated by school officials in the context of violence-related incidents between minors in the school, but also the unethical reporting of such incidents in the Albanian media.

The article is a good example of critically treating a persisting negative phenomenon through well-formulated arguments supported by different and reliable sources. In addition, the article’s accompanying photograph illustrates the story line appropriately without depicting children/minors in degrading circumstances and in accordance with their rights to privacy and identity. By accurately citing several applicable pieces of Albanian legislation – including the recently approved Albanian Law on the Protection of the Rights of the Child – the author argues successfully the legal obligations imposed on the school director or other representatives of educational institutions to respect and protect children’s right to privacy and welfare, even if – but especially when – minors become involved in criminal or delinquent behavior. Moreover, the author spares no criticism for the Albanian electronic media community when she states that 90% of the Albanian national and local TV channels broadcasted the school director’s interview during which he revealed the full personal details of all three minors involved. In one case, details of the minors’ residential addresses were also reported. Without specifying the number of the newspapers reviewed, the author states that only two of the major Albanian newspapers edited out the minors’ personal details.

The author argues this is a regular occurrence of unethical reporting of stories involving children and minors in the Albanian media. She refers to previous media reports on other similar incidents and makes a general appeal to the media community to demonstrate ethical restraint and self-regulation when it comes to reporting such stories. Finally, she adds, the irony is that Kosovo and Macedonian media colleagues in Prishtina and Skopje managed to report the same case in line with the ethical standards of protecting children’s rights, whilst Tirana media was their primary source for the story.

In this context, a major aspect of the Child Protection Safety Net (CPSN) project currently being implemented by Terre des hommes in Albania relates to training school directors, teachers, school psychologists and other educational staff in respecting and promoting child rights and ensuring child protection in the school environment.

For more information about the CPSN Project by Terre des hommes in Albania please click here.

The original article in the Albanian language can be accessed here.

Comments: Tana Lala-Pritchard, Strategic Communications Officer, Terre des hommes in Albania