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Italy Weighs Metal Detectors for High-Risk Schools as Blade Ban Heads to Cabinet This Month

The plan limits scanners to campuses flagged by principals with prefects, reflecting a security step tied to a broader push on respect education.

Overview

  • The proposal follows the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Abanoub Youssef at La Spezia’s Einaudi-Chiodo institute by a schoolmate.
  • The government’s forthcoming “Decreto Sicurezza” is expected to include a prohibition on bringing any cutting weapon to school, with the package slated for the Council of Ministers as early as next week and within January.
  • Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara says detectors would be introduced only where risks are higher and only upon a principal’s request in agreement with the prefect.
  • Officials frame the measures alongside prevention, civic-education initiatives like the new “Giornata del Rispetto,” tougher conduct rules, and community service for serious disciplinary cases.
  • Valditara has rejected left-wing criticism as ideological, citing a rise in youth knife incidents reported in areas such as Frosinone and arguing the state must protect students.