According to Jornal de Notícias (19/02/2024), the Public Security Police (PSP) noted 2617 incidents in the first half of last year, surpassing the figures from 2019. Experts have observed a trend towards more violent behaviour among children and are urging the government to allocate additional resources to address this issue.

Violence in schools is on the rise. Since 2019, through the Safe School programme, the Public Security Police have documented over 10,500 incidents within schools during the first six months of each year alone. Nearly 66 percent of these incidents were deemed criminal in nature. At the same time, there has been an increase in crimes of bodily harm within schools (855 incidents), followed by insults and threats (571) and theft (252). These figures represent a 20 percent increase in bodily harm incidents and a 21 percent increase in insults and threats compared to 2019. Experts highlight that exposure to violence has become more pervasive in young people’s lives, facilitated by the internet and television, particularly amidst global conflicts such as those in Ukraine and the Middle East. The pandemic has also affected their healthy development.