Every year, thousands of young people gather in Folkeparken in the middle of Roskilde to mark the start of a new cohort at the city's upper secondary schools – also known as "puttefest" (freshman party).
> I am strongly critical of that entire culture in general
> Henrik Nevers, principal at Roskilde Gymnasium
But it must stop, says Henrik Nevers, principal at Roskilde Gymnasium.
Last Friday during the puttefest, a 16-year-old lost his life in a knife killing right next to the park. This underscores why the tradition of the puttefest has no place anywhere, the principal says.
- It must never be allowed to happen again.
- But I am strongly critical of that entire culture in general. When you have just started upper secondary school, you are more vulnerable to a very heavy alcohol culture, he says.
Eighth and ninth graders also come to the puttefester in Folkeparken, where, according to Henrik Nevers, a culture prevails that is not suitable for such young people.
- There is also a culture where you have to draw on each other's white tops and t-shirts. It is a very sexualized culture, and I think that is too much for the very young students.
On Sunday, the call from Danske Gymnasier (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/danske-gymnasier-oensker-opgoer-med-puttefester-meget-uro), the association of Danish upper secondary schools, also urged that the puttefester be shut down entirely.
-------------------------------------
Mayor has reached out to the principals
-------------------------------------
Roskilde's mayor Tomas Breddam (S) tells DR (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/live-16-aarig-faengslet-efter-knivdrab-paa-gymnasieelev?focusId=12229822#liveblog-embed) that he has reached out to the city's upper secondary schools with the question of why puttefester should be held in the municipality.
> There is no organizer behind it who keeps watch, and therefore it is just difficult to keep control
> Henrik Nevers, principal at Roskilde Gymnasium
Henrik Nevers hopes that the upper secondary schools in Roskilde together with the municipality and the students' parents can prevent the puttefest in the future. Because the schools cannot abolish something they do not organize.
- It is presented as if it is an event, but it actually isn't.
- Last Friday there were apparently some night owls present. But apart from that, there is no organizer behind it who keeps watch, and therefore it is just difficult to keep control.
Several people visited the crime scene over the weekend. (Photo: © Martin Sylvest, Ritzau Scanpix)
------------------------
Upper secondary school students disagree
------------------------
Oscar Tønsberg Hoffmann, however, sees the matter differently. He is chairperson of Danske Gymnasieelevers Sammenslutning, the interest organization for Danish upper secondary school students.
- Even though my thoughts and deepest sympathy go out to the victim's relatives and the students at Himmelev Gymnasium, I do not think one should view the killing in relation to puttefester in general, he says, referring to the police having described it as an 'internal settling of scores' (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/teenager-er-knivdraebt-i-roskilde-under-internt-opgoer).
Instead of linking the concept of puttefester and Friday's knife killing, Oscar Tønsberg Hoffmann believes local authorities should step up safety-promoting efforts.
> I think technically it is not possible to ban puttefester.
> Oscar Tønsberg Hoffmann
- Especially now in the coming year in light of this case. This could be, for example, by deploying more police and more night owls.
Danske Gymnasieelevers Sammenslutning does not believe it is possible to prevent these puttefester, which take place in many parks and forests around the country.
- I think technically it is not possible to ban them. The party doesn't stop; it just moves elsewhere, says Oscar Tønsberg Hoffmann.
- We also believe that part of this culture is problematic. But we think one should try to change this alcohol culture and sexualized culture with safety-promoting initiatives.
----------------------------------
Upper secondary schools view the matter differently
----------------------------------
We have reached out to the principal of Himmelev Gymnasium, Julie Rørdam Thom, where the 16-year-old knife killing victim attended school. But she did not wish to comment on whether the puttefest should be shut down in the future.
We have also reached out to the principal of Roskilde Katedralskole, Thomas Ulrik Stilling, who in a written response writes to DR:
- We do not believe the answer is to try to ban young people from meeting outside school hours.
- As a school, we believe more in dialogue and responsibility. We will continue to talk to our students about how to create good and safe communities, also outside school hours, and about taking care of themselves and each other. In that work, parents also play a major role.
Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.