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Chilean Parliament Approves Law Against School Violence, Allowing Backpack Searches
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Elections & Politics

Chilean Parliament Approves Law Against School Violence, Allowing Backpack Searches

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Approved/passed
  • Chile's Parliament approved a controversial law aimed at combating school violence, including stricter penalties and backpack searches.
  • The law, dubbed 'Escuelas Protegidas' (Protected Schools), also prohibits students who commit offenses in schools from accessing free university education for five years.
  • Critics argue the law criminalizes youth and fails to address the root causes of violence, while supporters cite a recent fatal stabbing incident as justification.

Chile's Parliament has approved a contentious new law designed to combat violence in schools, introducing measures such as stricter penalties for offenses committed on school grounds and allowing for backpack searches. The legislation, known as 'Escuelas Protegidas' (Protected Schools), also includes a provision to ban students who commit crimes within educational institutions from receiving free university education for five years.

Passed by a wide majority in the Chamber of Deputies, the law was championed by the government of ultraconservative President José Antonio Kast. It modifies the Penal Code to consider the commission of a crime within an educational establishment an aggravating factor. The bill received support from the ruling right-wing coalition, the populist Partido de la Gente, and the centrist Christian Democrats.

The idea is that those who commit offenses in the educational context, whether against life or property, will be disqualified from accessing the benefit of free higher education (for five years).

— Minister of EducationExplaining the provision barring offenders from free university education.

However, opposition lawmakers have raised constitutional concerns, arguing the law infringes upon the rights of children and adolescents and violates the principle of equality before the law. Communist deputy Luis Cuello stated during the debate, "This remains a project that criminalizes and does not resolve the problem of violence in society that is expressed in schools." Critics contend that the law focuses on punitive measures rather than addressing the underlying societal issues contributing to school violence.

The government introduced the bill following a March incident where an 18-year-old fatally stabbed an educational assistant and injured four others at a school in Calama. This case was the first to be classified by Chilean prosecutors as 'Targeted School Violence' (TVS), a term for extreme, planned aggression within educational settings. While school violence has become a growing concern in Chile, with even prestigious public schools experiencing unrest, opponents argue that this law unfairly targets young people and fails to offer comprehensive solutions.

This remains a project that criminalizes and does not resolve the problem of violence in society that is expressed in schools.

— Luis CuelloA communist deputy speaking during the parliamentary debate.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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