Danmarksdemokraterne leader Inger Støjberg presented 15 proposals against negative social control in youth education on Thursday. Students at Nyborg Gymnasium say the package restricts religious freedom.
Støjberg unveiled the proposals at the party’s summer group meeting on Thursday morning, August 20, 2026. DR reports that the package, presented under the title “Bekæmp islam”, drew frustrated reactions from students at Nyborg Gymnasium on Funen.
The plan covers negative social control and what the party calls dominance culture at gymnasiums and other youth education programs. One proposal would require all students on their first school day to shake hands with a member of the school leadership of the opposite sex. Another would ban fasting at youth education institutions.
BT adds that the dress code provisions include bans on puffer jackets, caps and headscarves where schools consider it necessary. According to BT, new students would also sign a declaration that Danish values and the Basic Law take precedence over the Quran. The party further wants schools to be fully compensated if they expel a student under the new rules.
Politiken reports that the package would allow expulsion the first time a student speaks a language other than Danish. The same outlet notes that the party wants consistent reporting when young women arrive wearing an Islamic headscarf.
Students say the plan targets their identity
Riyaan Abdulkadir Mohamed, a student in class 3.c at Nyborg Gymnasium, wears a headscarf every day. She told DR that a classmate is allowed to wear a Dagmar cross, while she would not be allowed to wear her headscarf. Wearing religious symbols is part of religious freedom, she said, and her religion and culture form part of her identity.
Her classmate Vega Hoffensetz Fogh-Schultz said she was surprised by the proposals. Using the handshake as a means of controlling students feels wrong to her, and she questioned why students should be made to suspect each other. Beyond academics, she said, youth education is about meeting new people and being part of a community.
Oscar Tønsberg Hoffmann, chair of Danske Gymnasieelevers Sammenslutning, told DR that social control is a real problem that requires action. He described the party’s approach as an attempt to counter social control with social control of the opposite kind. The problem occurs at the individual level, he said, and Muslim gymnasium students should be allowed simply to be students.
DR and BT both link the timing to the party’s summer group meeting on Thursday. According to DR, Danmarksdemokraterne says social control is taking place at many gymnasiums and youth education institutions. UddannelsesMonitor also reported the launch of the 15 proposals.
