Dear Editor,
I was surprised to read your article last week on how Armed Forces reserves might soon start patrolling schools. As Mr Gouveia rightly said, this is something you only see in dictatorships.
Assigning military forces to school patrol duties seems like a hugely out of place measure, especially in a country like Portugal.
While I don’t mind – and even support – efforts to increase security at schools, I don’t think the Armed Forces are what schools need.
A playful push or a little light teasing could be interpreted the wrong way by the military officers, and thus create an overly somber atmosphere among students.
Public schools are not military schools, but that is what they might become if this measure actually moves forward.
I will be interested to read more about this, as I don’t see how the government can let this happen.
C. Ramsey
Vila Real de Santo António
