Danish upper secondary schools want to crack down on puttefester: 'Too much disturbance'

Danish high schools want to crack down on 'puttefester': 'Too much unrest'

The request comes in the wake of the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old boy in Roskilde.

The chairperson of Danish High Schools wants a crackdown on 'puttefester' after several episodes of violent unrest. (Photo: © Mathias Eis, Ritzau Scanpix) 13 minutes ago

When young people start high school, there is a tradition of large parties with alcohol. But that should be a thing of the past now, according to the chairperson of Danish High Schools, Maja Bødtcher-Hansen.

"It is extreme that several thousand young people gather and consume alcohol together. And we have seen examples of fights and unpleasant atmospheres arising. I think it's a shame that young people have to encounter that," she says to Ritzau.

She would prefer that these festive events outside of school do not occur at all. Instead, she hopes that schools, parents, and students can together create better frameworks for the initial period as a high school student.

"My ideal scenario is that the communities they start up focus on the school and not these huge gatherings of students from all kinds of schools and a lot of people they don't need to have a relationship with," she says.

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Unrest at the start of the high school year

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Last Friday, young people gathered in several places across the country to celebrate starting high school. But several festivities ended in unrest – including in Frederiksberg, where a large group got into a fight.

In Roskilde, the unrest became so violent that a 16-year-old boy lost his life in a stabbing. Another 16-year-old boy has been charged with manslaughter and was remanded in custody in connection with the case yesterday.

Folkeparken in Roskilde, Saturday, August 15, 2026. A 16-year-old high school student from Himmelev Gymnasium was stabbed the evening before. (Photo: © Martin Sylvest, Ritzau Scanpix)

This is not the first time unrest has been reported in connection with the introductory parties outside of school.

There have also previously been reports of trouble in connection with 'puttefester' in Dyrehaven north of Copenhagen.

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> I think there is quite a lot of pressure on young people to attend these

> events.

> Maja Bødtcher-Hansen, chairperson of Danish High Schools

But the incident from Roskilde and the unrest in Frederiksberg underscore, according to Maja Bødtcher-Hansen, that something needs to be done.

"I think there is quite a lot of pressure on young people to attend these events," she says and offers an appeal to the parents of the young people:

"We need to get parents more involved and have the conversation with them that it is actually okay as a parent to put your foot down and say no to their children attending these events," she says.

At most high schools, there are parent meetings during the first period of high school.

It is among other things this forum that Maja Bødtcher-Hansen hopes high schools can use to talk to parents about how to support each other and the young people in choosing events at school and with classmates.

The mayor of Roskilde, Tomas Breddam (Social Democrats), told DR yesterday that he has reached out to the city's high schools with the question of why 'puttefester' should be held in the municipality.

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