Ribnikar Victim's Father: 'Screens Are Destroying Our Children, We Need a Strategy'

Three years after the horrific mass shooting at the Ribnikar elementary school, the pain for families like Anđelko Aćimović's remains a daily reality. Aćimović, father of young Angelina, shared with N1 Serbia the profound grief that marks anniversaries and holidays, but also the constant ache of seeing his child's photograph daily. He spoke candidly about the institutions' initial unpreparedness and the mistakes born from inexperience following the tragedy.

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The hardest are the anniversaries and holidays because we always remember details of our shared life and the happiness we had with them – those are the hardest moments. Difficult moments are daily when before sleep and after waking up you kiss your child's photograph and the reminder is more active. Life hasn't changed much, except when we have some activities for which you have to focus and it's natural that you are in a phase where you don't remember, and otherwise, children and Angelina are constantly present.

While acknowledging that institutions provided necessary support to the affected families, Aćimović expressed frustration over the lack of a comprehensive national strategy to protect children. He pointed to digital addiction, fueled by screens and online platforms, as a primary driver of violence, a concern echoed in the book "Zaštiti me" (Protect Me) published by the Angelina Foundation. This foundation advocates for parental education and a systemic approach to safeguarding children from the dangers of the digital world.

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Screens are destroying our children, we lack that strategy and work is being done on it now.

The slow progress on establishing a memorial center for the victims of Ribnikar and other tragic events is another point of concern. Aćimović stressed that memorialization is crucial for remembrance and serves as a preventative measure. He lamented that, even after three years, parents in Belgrade are still struggling to find common ground and direction for this vital project, suggesting a collective responsibility for the delay.

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We wrote a book in which we speak in the name of a child – protect me, I cannot protect myself from the science that created all these platforms and games. We appeal for much more attention to be paid to the training of parents through systematic work and a serious strategy.