Anti-maskers continue school stand-off

A standoff between anti-maskers at an elementary school in Krapinske Toplice continued on Tuesday as a student who refuses to wear a mask again tried to attend classes and was denied entry into the building.

Security guards are protecting students and teachers after a group of protesters stormed into the school on Friday. The protest was initiated by an eighth grader whose family do not want him to wear a mask. The student keeps showing up for classes and is turned away when asked to put on a mask. Around a dozen anti-mask and anti-vaccine protesters have been gathering in front of the school. Police warned them today that protests were not allowed near schools.

Police have filed several complaints against the student's parents. After their son was denied entry into the school without a mask, they sat down with him in front of the building. They appeared to be reading textbooks. The school's principal Samson Štibohar said it was all for show.

"I'd rather not go into the performance by the parents and others who were taking videos of themselves in front of the school and the security guards to show how eager the boy was to learn. He does not belong outside. He belongs in class with his peers," Štibohar said.

One of the protesters, catechism teacher Ivan Pokupec, said he planned to sue the principal for what he described as a brutal violation of the boy's rights.

The Children's Rights Ombudswoman Helenca Pirnat Dragičević expressed concern over the situation during a visit to the school on Tuesday. She is urging the boy's parents to set their personal views aside and not to encourage their child to break rules.

"Encouraging rule-breaking is certainly not in the interest of children," she said.

County Prefect Željko Kolar spoke to the parents to try to diffuse the situation but to no avail.

"Sadly, this is just pure spite. They don't understand that they are doing harm to their own child,” he said.

Kolar said the county, which is responsible for schools on the local level, must follow the recommendations handed down by the Ministry of Education. The principal, Kolar said, was just doing his job.