Danske Gymnasier is calling for an end to large off-campus intro parties known as puttefester, after violent scenes at this year’s celebrations and a fatal stabbing in Roskilde.
DR reports that the chair of Danske Gymnasier, Maja Bødtcher-Hansen, wants the tradition of large alcohol-fueled parties for new gymnasium students to end. Speaking to Ritzau, she said it is severe when several thousand young people gather and drink together, and that fights and an unpleasant atmosphere have followed.
Bødtcher-Hansen said her preferred scenario is that the off-campus events do not arise at all. Instead, she wants new students to build communities at their own schools, rather than at mass gatherings with people they have no relation to.
According to Ni.dk, the association wants intro activities held without alcohol and on school premises, instead of in public parks. Ni.dk notes that Danske Gymnasier frames this as creating better frameworks for the first weeks of school.
Unrest at this year’s school start
Young people gathered in several parts of Denmark on Friday to mark the start of the school year. Some of the celebrations ended in disturbances, including on Frederiksberg, where a larger group began fighting, DR reports.
In Roskilde, the unrest turned fatal. A 16-year-old boy died after a stabbing, and another 16-year-old has been charged with manslaughter. He was remanded in custody on Saturday.
Midt- og Vestsjællands Politi stated that the report came in at 17:33 on Friday, August 14, near Louisevej in Roskilde. The boy was struck by several knife blows and was airlifted to Rigshospitalet, where he died. Police said a party connected to the gymnasiums’ school start was being held in the area.
DR reports that the killing happened at a puttefest in Folkeparken, and that police view the case as an internal conflict between the two 16-year-olds, with no link to criminal gangs. Sjællandske Nyheder reports that the victim was a newly enrolled student at Himmelev Gymnasium, which offered crisis counseling from Saturday morning.
Berlingske reports that puttefester ran off the rails both in Copenhagen and Roskilde, and that the events had drawn hundreds or thousands of young people. DR notes that disturbances have previously been reported at puttefester in Dyrehaven, north of Copenhagen.
Bødtcher-Hansen said she believes there is considerable pressure on young people to attend the events. She called for parents to be more involved, adding that it is acceptable for a parent to refuse permission. Most gymnasiums hold parent meetings during the first weeks, and she hopes those meetings can be used for that conversation.
Roskilde Mayor Tomas Breddam of the Social Democrats told DR on Saturday that he has contacted the city’s gymnasiums. He asked them why puttefester should be held in the municipality at all.
