One year after the attack on a daycare center in Blumenau, learn about MP-SC’s actions to promote safety in schools

The work has in common the aim of promoting greater safety in schools across the state

The tragedy at the Cantinho Bom Pastor daycare center, in Blumenau, mobilized the entire society, caused the government to adopt new measures and invest more in security, increased the attention of the Military Police and also encouraged the creation of working groups (GT) and studies in search of actions to ensure greater safety in schools.

The Public Ministry of Santa Catarina (MP-SC) also did its part and worked in groups with the aim of seeking measures to promote greater security in the state’s schools, in addition to carrying out studies to promote a safe school environment and finding ways to assist the promoters’ work.

The attack on the daycare center in Blumenau caused the death of four children and left five others injured. The crime, which occurred on April 5, 2023, shocked the entire country. Hundreds of people shared the grief of the parents of children who lost their only children.

Since then, the Public Ministry has worked in groups with the aim of seeking solutions to improve safety in schools and measures that aim to better protect the state’s children.

During this period, the body created the MP-SC School Security Working Group, in addition to actively participating in the Integrated School Security Operations Committee (Comseg Escolar), of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Santa Catarina (Alesc).

According to the Coordinator of the Operational Support Center for Children, Youth and Education (CIJE) of the Public Ministry of Santa Catarina (MP-SC), Prosecutor Eder Cristiano Viana, the MP-SC School Security Working Group has the objective of thinking about internal strategies, to assist prosecutors, in a way that serves as an instrument in the face of cases of violence in and against schools, in addition to encouraging a safer school environment.

The group emerged after the MP-SC was invited to join the Integrated School Security Operations Committee (Comseg Escolar), in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Santa Catarina (Alesc).

“The objective of this group is to think about these means and strategies and eventually produce some material that will be for internal work purposes of the prosecutors’ offices”, he highlights. The initiative to create the GT came from the attorney general, Fábio de Souza Trajano.

The study is carried out by the MP himself and is made up of 12 prosecutors. Among the participants is CyberGaeco, which carries out active search work to identify perpetrators of aggression with the aim of preventing acts of violence in schools. Furthermore, the promoter highlights that one of the objectives of the study also includes measures on how to guide colleagues with some type of investigation that may involve the CyberGaeco team.

According to Eder, some professionals such as social workers and psychologists have already participated in GT meetings. “Throughout the development of the work, we can activate another technical body of the Public Ministry in an attempt to gather information to think about this strategy and what the Public Ministry should do and how to organize itself to be able to work with the prosecutor preventively or repressively” , explains.

The work of the GT continues and there is no forecast for completion. The prosecutor also adds that at the end of the work, the MP can recommend actions or new public policies.

“If we identify that there is a situation within the scope of data and analysis of the implementation of public policies in Santa Catarina, or a region with a more alarming rate of violence that could result in violence at school, we can suggest measures either for Alesc or for the State government, whether institutionally, through the Attorney General or through the actions of prosecutors in each of the districts”, he explains.

After the attack in Blumenau, Alesc took the initiative to create the school security committee which, at the time, was called Comseg Escolar. The group was made up of 24 institutions, such as the Public Ministry of Santa Catarina, deputies from Alesc, Court of Justice of the State of Santa Catarina, Court of Auditors of the State of Santa Catarina, State Secretariat for Education, State Secretariat for Protection and Civil Defense, State Department of Health, Civil and Military Police, among others.

The program aimed to find alternatives to promote a culture of peace in schools in Santa Catarina. The work lasted seven months and included public hearings, including in Blumenau, and visits to countries that have had cases of violence in schools to seek ideas to apply to the state’s schools. According to Eder, four prosecutors were appointed to participate in the group at Alesc.

The committee coordinator and president of Alesc, deputy Mauro de Nadal (MDB), assesses that the work of Comseg/Integra was positive. He also recognizes the enthusiasm shown by the people involved in the debates on such a delicate and important topic for society as a whole.

“Since the sad event in Blumenau, there has been great mobilization in our Legislative Assembly. Comseg/Integra worked to evaluate the possible framework of measures that can benefit safety in the school environment, improve community relations and increase family involvement”, details Mauro.

In addition to the various meetings, the group also took two trips abroad to places that already work on the issue of safety in schools, namely the United States and Colombia. The trips aimed to seek examples and collect strategies on how violence is faced in these places.

“Countries have slightly different approaches to dealing with the topic, and the trip aimed to collect information that could eventually serve as an example for Santa Catarina, in creating some local policy taking these good examples and good practices from each of the countries”, says the prosecutor.

Eder participated in the trip to Medellín, Colombia, representing the MP-SC. The city had a strong wave of violence between the 1980s and 1990s and was considered one of the most violent in the world. Through the implementation of several public policies, the city managed to overcome this scenario.

“In fact, schools are considered central locations for this policy, whether to spread a culture of peace or as a neutral place with regard to violence in order to allow children and adolescents to have a safe environment in which to learn and develop”, highlights the prosecutor.

Check out photos from the trip to Medellín, Colombia

“This study suggested measures, policies and measures, whether at the level of the State or at Alesc with the composition of a bill, which aim to adopt means and think about how these public policies can be organized preventively or repressively in these situations, whether in assistance policies , school, health or public safety”, says the prosecutor.

As a result of the work, the group produced a report that was released at the end of last year. The group’s final report proposed 11 measures with the aim of promoting greater safety in schools in Santa Catarina:

• establish and regulate the Integrated Committee for Citizenship and Peace in Schools (Integra);
• establish and regulate the School Safety Monitoring Observatory;
• create the State Monitoring, Monitoring and Management System for Actions to Combat Violence in Schools;
• regulate the development and implementation of the Educational Contingency Plan for Serious Threats to Life in all schools;
• establish the creation of the Degree Forum in Santa Catarina;
• create CONVIVA, the coexistence policy in the school environment;
• establish a multidisciplinary coexistence team focused on managing the Integrated Plan for the Management of Citizenship and Peace in Schools (Plin), in the 36 Regional Education Coordinators;
• establish the creation of the Teacher’s School program in Santa Catarina;
• create the Special Secretariat for Citizenship and Culture of Peace;
• create the “Agents of Peace” program at the Special Secretariat for Citizenship and Culture of Peace;
• provide for the installation of monitoring cameras in schools.

At the end of 2023, Alesc deputies approved the creation of the Integrated Committee for Citizenship and Peace in Schools (Integra), one of the proposals in the final report. In this way, Comseg became a permanent program in the Assembly and with a new name.

According to the president of Alesc, the law that creates Integra was approved in the Assembly and awaits the governor’s sanction. However, he highlights that several projects that were presented in the Santa Catarina Parliament are in progress. Still according to the deputy, there is an expectation for the effective implementation of changes in the culture of combating school violence.

“The idea is that Integra, with its permanent committee, can actually have a systemic focus, always seeking to improve the education environment. This is very important. It is necessary to improve coexistence in schools, invest in the environment, in security, but also in equipment so that education can advance. And invest in those who work in education, as well as taking preventive actions, with intelligence so that tragedies do not happen again”, emphasizes the deputy.

Another MP-SC initiative is the Restorative School project, which was implemented before the attack on the daycare center in Blumenau. The project was designed by the Restorative Justice Management Group in the State of Santa Catarina (GGJR-SC) and is coordinated by the Public Ministry of Santa Catarina (MP-SC), through the Permanent Center for Incentives for Self-composition (Nupia).

Escola Básica Municipal Vidal Ramos was the first in Blumenau to receive the project after a request from the Prosecutor of Justice for Children and Youth of the District of Blumenau, Débora Pereira Nicolazzi, to implement the program in the municipality. The objective is to show a new way of looking at a conflict and seeking to restore relationships. To achieve this, the program works with empathetic and welcoming listening.

According to the MP-SC, the creation of the project came from the Restorative Justice study group for socio-educational measures in an open environment, as a measure to prevent judicialization in schools.

At the meeting, conversation circles are held between students and teachers to promote reflections in search of greater safety in schools. At the Blumenau school alone, more than 800 people participated in the action and shared experiences, in addition to learning to work on non-violent communication, an important ally for resolving conflicts in the school environment.

The project is composed of the Judiciary, the state government, through the secretariats, the state Public Defender’s Office, the Brazilian Santa Catarina Bar Association (OAB-SC), the Santa Catarina Federation of Municipalities (Fecam), the State University of Santa Catarina (Udesc) and Unisul.

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