Three times this weeks a little group of boys of immigrant background in Nørrebro threw stones at children, teaches and parents in a kindergarten next to Mjølnerparken. [More on this story here, 97% of Mjølnerparken's residents are refugees, immigrants or their descendants.)
Again the spotlight falls on the children's parents, who are clearly not able to educate their children. But some immigrant parents actually encourage their kids in many cases to act primitively, say several integration consultants Nyhedsavisen has spoken with.
Fahmy Almajid: We typically deal with isolated, unemployed and resource-poor parents who feel bad with themselves. They think their unfortunate situation is society's fault and that most Danes are racist. Without noticing they transmit this attitude to their children, who in this way build up hate towards society and avenge against it by attacking the system. In this case they kindergarten is a symbol of the system that they can injure.
Mohammad Rafiq thinks it's not coincidental that the boys choose to throw stones.
Rafiq: Some boys have anger and frustration that they express by copying the traditions in Palestine, where it's common to throw stones at police and military. The children see the Gaza gangs throwing stones on TV and the parents tell them it's ok to express discontent in this way.
Jakob Haugaard, deputy integration mayor in Copenhagen, promises that authorities will quickly deal with the stone throwing boys in Mjølnerparken.
Haugaard: It can hurt integration if Danish parents suddenly don't dare come to Mjølnerparken and put their children in that kindergarten. Therefore I have told by deputy mayor colleagues that we're dealing with a serious problem that requires quick treatment and contact with the boy's parents.
Copenhagen municipality will now send consultants and social workers to Mjølnerparken to find the young stone throwers and talk with their parents.
Søren Thorborg, head of the children and youth department for Nørrebro district: We will tell the parents that their youth are involved in more than serious boy's pranks. And we will of course offer the children more healthy free-time activities than flinging stones at a kindergarten.
But Mohammed Aslam, Mjølnerparken's resident's council chairman, meanwhile fears that the effort won't be enough.
Aslam: The families here completely abandon their responsibility, but they are of often so resource-poor that they need a much more long-term action plan, this will ensure firm boundaries on the children's school attendance and free time. If the social authorities aren't up to the task, in the worse case we'll need to remove the children from home.
Mohammad Rafiq agrees and thinks that the authorities don't make enough use of the possibility of removing the kids from their home.
Source: Nyhedsavisen (Danish) h/t Uriasposten (Danish)
See also: Copenhagen: 90% of children removed from home are immigrants
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