The headteacher of Strandmølleskolen, a private school in Assens on Funen, ordered two boys to undress onstage and threatened to cut off their penises with scissors in front of a school assembly in December.
The incident occurred because the two boys were in violation of a holiday ‘policy’ that required all students to wear Santa Claus-style elf caps to school. When they failed to comply, the boys were arrested by the school's ‘elf police’ and taken to the headteacher, Anders Storebjerg.
Storebjerg then used the two boys, who are believed to be six or seven, as part of the entertainment at the 17 December morning assembly.
Stripped down to underwear
Storebjerg, according to witnesses, forced the boys to get into black bin-liners and asked them to hand him their shirts and trousers.
He then reached inside the bags with a pair of scissors and threatened to cut off the children’s penises. When the bin-liners fell to the ground, the boys stood in front of the school assembly wearing only their underwear.
“We naturally reject this type of humour,” Thomas Hald, a spokesperson for the school’s governing committee, told DR Funen. The board, he revealed, have spoken to Storebjerg who is “well aware” that he crossed some lines.
Parents not satisfied with consequences
However, several parents of the children who witnessed the incident want more action and have reported the matter to student advocacy group Børns Vilkår.
“These are children who have been violated and threatened,” Børns Vilkår head Bente Boserup told DR Funen. “The children and families are not receiving any help because the system is protecting itself. The adults involved are not looking out for the children.”
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Børns Vilkår has recommended that the parents report the incident to the police and file a complaint with the Education Ministry.
