Langeland Efterskole in Rudkøbing has opened a new indoor skate hall, built to bring pupils and local residents closer together after a winter of threats and assaults against students.
The boarding school inaugurated the facility this week, and DR reports that principal Michael Thagaard cut the ribbon on the site in Rudkøbing. According to DR, the hall is intended to prevent further harassment by creating a shared meeting place for students and townspeople.
Several of the school’s students were subjected to threats and assaults during the past winter, both in the local area and on the school grounds. Thagaard tells DR that the hall is an attempt to build bridges rather than meet in disagreement, and that he believes it can break down barriers.
Every Wednesday between 15:00 and 17:00, the school will invite local children, young people and adults to use the skate hall. An instructor from the school will be present alongside students, according to the principal.
The hall is one in a series of initiatives meant to open the school further toward the local population on Langeland. Students have welcomed the plan, DR reports, even though many say they cannot use a skateboard.
Pupil Shay Gholampoor Tizhoosh, whom DR met at the inauguration, said it was good that people from the town can come and see the school. As reported by DR, the student hopes the project can help resolve tensions with young people in the town and show that the pupils are not dangerous.
Background to the incidents
The harassment became publicly known in early February 2026, when Fyns Amts Avis reported that students were being threatened and beaten because they looked different. Per the same outlet, the mayor of Langeland issued a public admonition to residents and met the students to discuss their sense of insecurity.
A debate article later published by Politiken described specific episodes, including a young person being beaten at a local Netto and a stone thrown through a school window. The piece also cited fireworks fired at the school and verbal sexual harassment in the town. Those details go beyond what DR has described, which refers more generally to threats and assaults.
Why the school is acting now
Thagaard tells DR that the incidents in Rudkøbing in January 2026 drew intense press and local attention, and that the coverage helped. According to the principal, students were subsequently met warmly when they went into town, and the school wants to build on that atmosphere.
As of now, DR is the only outlet reporting on the opening itself, and details such as funding and capacity have not been published.
