Announces food wars on social media to welcome new students – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio

The case in summary First years at upper secondary schools are met with a food war in the canteen as a kind of welcome ritual. The food wars are often announced in advance on the social media Jodel, where users can remain anonymous. The student organization believes that such rituals can be fun for the most popular, but for others it can be experienced as incredibly unsafe and difficult. The principals at the affected schools are working on measures to prevent this from happening again, and express concern for the school’s reputation and environment. At Nøtterøy upper secondary school, yogurt, slices of bread and eggs were thrown at first-graders, and the students had to clean the canteen themselves and apologize. The principal in Horten does not rule out the possibility of both expulsion and a police report if a trend of food wars develops in the canteen. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s ​​journalists before publication. – We had heard rumors and didn’t think it would actually happen, says Nicklas Oliver Lie. He is a student and vice-chairman of the student council at Greveskogen upper secondary school in Tønsberg. A few days after the start of school, the school became chaotic. Food was thrown at new students who were in the canteen. Several other high schools also confirm to news that food wars have been planned at their schools in recent days. Some of the food wars are announced in advance in the social media Jodel, where users can remain anonymous. The food drive is usually coordinated at Jodel. This screenshot shows a publication on Jodel near Nøtterøy and Tønsberg. – We in the group of friends sat tensely in the corner of the canteen and counted down the minutes before lunch was finished, thinking “is it going to happen?”. When we saw that the headmaster was walking around the canteen with a worried expression on his face, we realized that it was much more serious, he says. The incident itself only lasted a few seconds, but both pupils and staff got food spilled. – Many probably think it was fun until the whole of VG3 was called in for a conversation with the principal where we got her perspective and a bit of a laugh, he says. Nicklas Oliver Lie is deputy chairman of the student council at Greveskogen upper secondary school. Photo: Magnus Skatvedt Iversen / news – Can create a bad reputation Tiril Fosheim Kleppan, who is the leader of the student council at the school, thinks it is disappointing that first-graders received this welcome. – This is not how we welcome new people, she says. – If many people knew about this in advance and it is something that happens once at the start of the school year; is it that dangerous? – Yes, it can create a bad reputation for the school, and we do not want Greveskogen to be seen as a scary school to attend. We must have as inclusive an environment as possible, she says. Student council leader Tiril Fosheim Kleppan believes that students should work for better cohesion, so that new students are not afraid to go to the canteen. Photo: Magnus Skatvedt Iversen / news – Fun for the most popular The student organization knows that such rituals exist in several schools around the country. Leader Madelen Kloster believes this is a symptom of a culture in the school environment that does not include all students. – Such rituals can be fun for the most popular, but for others it can be experienced as incredibly unsafe and difficult, she says. Madelen Kloster, leader of the Student Organization. Photo: Hannah Baarøy Kloster believes this is similar to previous cases from Oslo about first-graders who are not allowed to sit at the same table as third-graders. – It is good that you should work to make Russian time more safe and inclusive, and this must be seen in the context of the fact that such rituals already take place when pupils start first grade. – You have to start by building a safe and good school environment from the start, she says. Working with measures Principal Camilla Reidunsdatter Andreassen says the school is working with measures to prevent this from happening again. – We cannot have it as if these are episodes that happen in our canteen. We are very keen on pupils coming to school every day and eating their food in the canteen without incidents like this happening, she says. Principal at Greveskogen, Camilla Reidunsdatter Andreassen. Photo: STIAN WASJØ SIMONSEN / news Warning at Jodel Also at Nøtterøy high school, students threw yogurt, slices of bread and eggs at first-graders this week. Principal Arild Nordahl Johnsen says he was aware that this was planned at Jodel, but was still surprised by the scale. – It seemed very planned and coordinated. Everyone stood up at the same time and threw. You get thrown a lot in 5-10 seconds. I rushed forward to stop it, he says. Picture from Nøtterøy high school where food was thrown at first graders this week. He says he is shocked by the incident, but does not think it will happen again anytime soon. The students had to clean the canteen themselves and apologize, he says. – It has never been this way. It is completely incomprehensible to me that this is fun. If there is more this year, I will be very surprised, he says. What do you think about food throwing in the canteen? It’s just too much fun. It is absolutely reprehensible. I think of children who do not have food. Show result – Completely reprehensible Several upper secondary schools have also picked up on the fact that there has been a planned food war on social media. In Horten, the headmaster chose to go out with a clear message on the public address system on the day he knew this was planned. Thus, there was no food war. – I think it is completely reprehensible when we have the worldview we have around us, says headmaster Gisle Birkeland. Gisle Birkeland, principal at Horten upper secondary school. Photo: Nils Fridtjof Skumsvoll / news He doesn’t quite know why the students do this, but thinks it’s about hierarchy. – It seems to me that it is about showing who is boss, quite simply, and who should sit where in the canteen. But we need to find out more about that, and we are working on that continuously, he says. news has previously reported that bad culture in the canteen has been a problem at several upper secondary schools in the country: The principal in Horten does not rule out that there could be both expulsion and a police report if a trend of food wars in the canteen develops. – We take this seriously, and we must have a safe and good learning environment for pupils and staff, he says. Published 27.08.2024, at 15.56



ttn-69