Headmaster Çatık: Friedenau fights against violence and bullying!

As the new headmaster of the Friedrich-Bergius School, Engin çatık relies on change against violence and bullying.
As the new headmaster of the Friedrich-Bergius School, Engin çatık relies on change against violence and bullying. (Symbolbild/NAG)

Headmaster Çatık: Friedenau fights against violence and bullying!

Friedenau, Deutschland - The Friedrich-Bergius School in Friedenau has experienced changes in the past few months that have caused more security and calm in the school community. Teachers at the secondary school, who taught 400 students from 7th to the 10th grade, had already reported violent behavior among the students and bullying in November 2024. These alarming conditions led the school to be described as the “worst school in Germany”, which the new headmaster Engin çatık, who started his work at the end of January 2025, urgently wants to change. rbb24 reports 65% with bureaucratic tasks and only 35% with the lessons be.

çatık, who was previously director of the Johannaeck School in Tempelhof, introduced a number of changes to improve the situation. He found that the college had lost their security, but teachers have reported more peace in everyday school life since taking office. The headmaster relies on communication, including the exchange with the neighboring headmaster, to enable physical education in an additional hall. The changes include the introduction of an app for the representation plan and a welcome class for refugee students.

violence and challenges in everyday school life

The reports on violence at schools are not limited to the Friedrich-Bergius School. According to DW , many teachers in Germany report on an increase in psychological and physical violence. A VBE study shows that almost two thirds of the school management surveyed have found psychological violence in schools in the past five years. Schools in socially disadvantaged locations in particular are affected, which was also reinforced by the continuing consequences of Corona pandemic. The Federal President of the Teacher Union VBE, Gerhard Brand, describes the violent statistics as the "tip of the iceberg" and points to a high number of unreported cases.

The situation is also tightened by the acute shortage of teachers. A survey The Robert Bosch Foundation shows that 41% of the teachers see the need for personnel in the lack of personnel. Frustration and anger are often lived out in the school environment, which leads to an increase in aggressive behavior. The teachers are increasingly emotionally exhausted, which is reflected in the quota of 36% of the teachers who suffer from exhaustion several times a week.

new approaches and hopes

Headmaster Engin çatık focuses on emphasizing the students and showing them their potential. In ethics lessons, younger students are confronted with destructive behavior in order to bring them back to learning. The introduction of double lessons to increase the concentration is another measure to improve the school atmosphere. Students comment on Çatık and emphasize that he takes care of them.

The necessary change in the Friedrich-Bergius School shows that through communication and cooperation of everyone involved, such as teachers and students, improvement is possible. But the challenges in the German school landscape are still large and the need for action remains high. Experts appeal to educational policy to improve the framework conditions for teachers and to take violence at schools seriously.

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OrtFriedenau, Deutschland
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