In Alicante, a Juvenile Court has ruled against the European School of the city, finding negligence in relation to a case of school bullying that occurred at the center. The total compensation amounts to 9,000 euros, with 40% to be paid by the school and 60% by the families of the aggressors. The two accused students received a sentence of one year of community service for an offense against moral integrity. Although the private prosecution requested internment for the youths, the judge deemed educational measures more appropriate in this instance. The ruling is not final and can be appealed. [Cited: Alicante Juvenile Court decision]
The magistrate notes that although the school learned of the events after the disciplinary process began, the measures used during the months of handling the case, aimed at keeping the girl away from the aggressors, were described as clearly stigmatizing for the victim by the court’s resolution. [Cited: Court records]
The events took place between November 2022 and July 2023, the latter date being when the complaint was filed. The sentence holds that the two aggressors, along with a third minor who was deemed incapable of culpability because he was under 14, directed insults at the victim, aged twelve, throughout the school year in a persistent and repeated manner. In some instances, insults were issued in German to hinder understanding and to convey a contemptuous and mocking tone intended to humiliate. These humiliating expressions were also received by the victim via WhatsApp. Although the two defendants denied the insults during the trial, the court considered these degradations proven. The evidence came not only from the victim’s testimony but also from one of the accused when the school opened the disciplinary file. [Cited: Court findings]
The ruling describes that as a consequence, the girl developed an anxious depressive disorder, with very high anxiety and hypervigilance. This anxiety persisted until the mother decided to remove her from the school, distancing her from the stress source. The complaint was filed after the school year ended, and staff did not learn of the facts until September. The three months that passed before the mother withdrew her daughter are viewed by the judge as a sign of the school’s negligent conduct. [Cited: Mental health assessment]
Psychological Harm
The victim’s mother argued that the school’s response after being alerted to the complaint intensified the psychological and moral damage by maintaining a stressful environment that amplified the victim’s anxiety and placed her in psychological danger. The school argued that its policy treated all students equally and that no preventive measures beyond heightened supervision were taken until facts were verified. The principal testified that there was only one classroom per language, making it impossible to move students to another group. The school rejected homeschooling for the mother because it did not meet requirements and offered placement in a special needs classroom, an option the mother declined. [Cited: School policy and options]
“Last year was very hard for my daughter. Although the school said they would take measures, I noticed multiple incidents over months where the aggressors were near her,” the mother told a newspaper, emphasizing that she ultimately withdrew her daughter from the center and, two months later, another of her children. A separate bullying case at the same school had been reported shortly before this matter. [Cited: Interview remarks]
The magistrate concluded that even if the center could not implement more suitable separation measures due to its organization, it is hard to understand why, knowing there was a risk to the girl and that one aggressor had admitted the facts, there was no plan to separate the alleged perpetrators and instead the victim was revictimized. [Cited: Court rationale]
Attorney Domingo Salvatierra, who has acted as the private prosecutor on behalf of the mother, highlighted that this is the first conviction of a European School. European Schools are institutions established by the governments of EU member states to provide multicultural, multilingual education based on competency-based learning with a European dimension. [Cited: Interview remarks]