52.4% of respondents back metal detectors in schools, against 39.2% opposed, in an IBRiS poll for Rzeczpospolita conducted 16-17 October.
A police statement of 22 October reports 292,000 inspections of facilities, 535 incidents and 196 people detained after attacks between 7 and 10 October.
Support is 58% among opposition voters and 48% among governing coalition voters, and about 60% in big cities versus 49% in villages.
Konrad Ciesiołkiewicz says schools should not be fortresses, and Sławomir Broniarz of the ZNP union calls gates no solution.
An IBRiS survey commissioned by Rzeczpospolita found 52.4% of respondents in favour of installing metal-detecting gates in schools. Another 39.2% were opposed, and the remainder had no clear view. Fieldwork took place on 16-17 October through computer-assisted telephone interviews with 1,068 people. The devices would flag metal objects, including knives, and the results appeared in the Friday, 23 October edition of the paper. The Ministry of National Education has not decided to install such gates across the country, although some local governments have acted on their own.
Three attacks between 7 and 10 October left one person dead and several others injured, and police responded with a nationwide operation to strengthen security at schools. A police statement dated 22 October reported 292,000 inspections of facilities, 535 incidents and 196 people detained. The force added in the same statement:
“The situation is gradually calming down, and we are adjusting the nature of our actions to current needs.”
Earlier reports, published before that statement, had cited at least 187,000 educational institutions checked and about 200 people detained in investigations of suspected threats. Rzeczpospolita put the number of detained teenagers at about 200, held for threats, calls to commit crimes, false alarms and possessing dangerous objects such as knives.
Support is higher among opposition voters, at 58%, than among those who back parties in the governing coalition, where 48% are in favour and 43% opposed. Women back the measure at 57%, while about 60% of big-city residents support it compared with 49% of people living in villages. Among respondents who identify with right-wing views, 61% are in favour, while 64% of those who voted for Konfederacja in the last parliamentary election oppose gates.
Data from the article text
Dr Konrad Ciesiołkiewicz, an expert on the information society and a political scientist at Korczak University, told Rzeczpospolita that the fear among pupils is justified but that a gate should not replace educational work.
“Schools should not be fortresses.”
Sławomir Broniarz, head of the ZNP teachers' union, made the same point in a TOK FM interview and argued that more staff would work better.
“The solution is a larger number of educators in schools, more people working alongside teachers and greater involvement from parents.”
Marek Pleśniar of OSKKO, an association of education managers, noted that mass shootings do not happen in Polish schools, although the dangerous tools used can vary. Rzeczpospolita reported that the mayor of Inowrocław has ordered gates in primary schools, to be staffed by municipal guards. The paper also recalled that last year an 11-year-old girl was killed by knife blows at a school in Jelenia Góra, in an attack by a pupil a year older.
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Rzeczpospolita's IBRiS poll, published on 23 October, found 39.2% opposed. Police reported on 22 October that they had carried out 292,000 inspections of facilities after attacks in early October.
AI text based on reports by Stirile ProTV, Spider's Web, Digi24 and other publishers. Published .