Every day Eleni wakes up early in the morning. She washes, dresses and prepares children for this. school. The busy day has just begun, and Eleni and her husband have a few minutes to talk to the children, greet each other, and meet again at noon, after school and household chores. The scene seems familiar to most parents.

But there is one difference. It seems to be an insignificant difference, but so important that it completely changes the situation. Eleni is a resident of the municipality of Aharno, a municipality that, although only a few kilometers from the center of Athens, is an image of a “ghetto” more reminiscent of underdeveloped Latin American countries.

In this municipality, residents almost never calm down. They have to be constantly on the lookout, as every day they witness vandalism, drug dealing and senseless shootings, watching “with soul in their mouth” as bullets of various calibers hit their homes and damage their property.

At lunchtime at the family table, the conversation, as usual, does not revolve around the children’s performance in school or problems that parents may have encountered at work. The main topic of discussion is always the safety and protective measures that family members must respectfully observe for their protection. Mostly about children and school.

After all, only a few days have passed since the last incident. It was last Friday when the teachers of the 20th elementary school in Menidi found that the window in the classroom was broken, and they found a shell casing on the floor below.

“Anxiety eats you up every day”

How Mrs. Eleni describes her conversation with cathimerini.gr “Now these situations have become part of our daily lives. Every night in Menidi there is a party with sparklers and shots are fired. I’ve been in the area since 2011 and still we found a total of four cups in our yard. We live in fear that our children will suffer. And what to tell them? Don’t come out, don’t run. You cannot do this, you cannot control them. But the anxiety remains and eats you up every day.”

As the saying goes, a few years ago a child was hit by a bullet, adding that even on Easter Day, when she went out to her yard to light a lantern, she found a cup at her feet. “It’s a coincidence that he didn’t hit me,” he said. To the question about the actions of EL.AS. she noted that after the incident with Mario, who died from a stray bullet in June 2017, when he was in the courtyard of his school, patrols have increased, but she believes that the state will need to strengthen the police departments of the municipality with additional personnel.

“I collected 14 rounds from my house”

Mrs. Kelly, a resident of the municipality of Aharno, has similar stories that in the last quarter, she collected from her house not one, not two, not three, but 14 bullets.

In a conversation with “K”, Mrs. Kelly explains that now, due to the existing fear, she avoids going up to the roof of her house even to hang clothes.

“This is a daily problem. We hear shots at any time. Morning, night, it doesn’t matter. The canopy in my house is made of plexiglass and is pierced by bullets. In just two or three months, I collected 14 rounds of ammunition at home. were outside and hit my best man right in the eye,” he describes.

Referring to the challenges faced by schools in the area and the damage recently discovered in the 20th grade, Ms. Kelly stressed that and in 2013 a bullet hit a kindergarten in the district and wounded a little girl under the eye.

“I called the police three times. There is a lot of fear among both teachers and children,” he concludes.

“Do we have to choose between airguns or combat weapons?”

In an interview with K, Mr. George Kiakopoulos, President of the Association of Parents and Guardians of Acharnon Elementary School 20, spoke about situations of anxiety and fear.

Referring to the damage found at the school, Mr Kyakopoulos explained that the damage was seen last Friday. “The teachers discovered on Friday morning that there is a double-glazed window that is only broken on the outside and has a hole inside. I got up and found it myself. I assumed it was bullet damage because the hole was visible. The bullet was found exactly one floor below, where there is a small balcony. However, police say the damage was caused by airguns. And we, parents, ask what should we choose, an air pistol or a military weapon? If it was smashed with an air pistol, it means that some unconscious people are shooting at children’s windows with an air pistol. Isn’t it possible to kill a child like that? – he asked.

“It’s not the first bullet we found at the school.. We found them four more times and handed them over to the police,” he adds.

Regarding the conditions in the areas of the municipality of Aharno, Mr. Kahiopoulos noted that shots are constantly heard, stressing that the biggest fear that residents face is the risk that their children may be injured.

“We hear gunshots every night. We convened an emergency council and held a peaceful protest outside the school yesterday to find a solution. We requested a hearing from the mayor, and on the positive side, he told us that next week we will meet with the Minister of Civil Protection to describe the situation to him and express our complaints. Our children are afraid. This cannot go on.”

Finally, Mr. Cahiopoulos said that 10 days ago he was forced to replace his solar panel after he discovered that two bullets had hit the windows, rendering it unusable.

“We cannot tolerate delinquent behavior that affects the school environment”

The mayor of Acharnon, Spyros Vrettos, was also put in charge of the matter in a statement to kathimerini.gr.

As he specifically stated: “Our local community requires the state, which has the sole responsibility, to ensure the security of the citizens in Acharnes to the maximum extent possible. Especially when it comes to the school environment. Our municipal government has repeatedly made representations and made many proposals not only to the Ministry of Citizens’ Protection, but also to the Ministries of Justice, Finance, Health and Labor.

In addition, we have established an anti-crime committee and launched a special hotline for complaints.

It is a fact that steps have been taken to increase the sense of security, but more needs to be done because we cannot imagine that in the 21st century we will tolerate offenses that affect the school environment.”