Denmark weighs wider school restraint powers as teenager recounts experience

As Denmark’s parliament considers giving teachers wider powers to physically intervene with pupils, 14-year-old Magnus Ivarsen has told DR that being restrained by several teachers left him feeling unable to trust them.

Two years ago, three teachers held Magnus down on the floor at his school, with some restraining his legs. “I could hardly breathe,” he said. The incident happened after he became angry and frustrated and swung a stick. He said the experience, along with other occasions when he was physically held, left him afraid.

DR contacted Magnus’s former school, which declined to comment. He now attends another school, where he has not experienced physical force being used against him.

The bill being considered by parliament would allow teachers to use physical intervention not only when a pupil endangers themselves or others, but also when they substantially disrupt lessons or psychologically harm others. Physical intervention would have to remain a last resort, after other relevant and less intrusive options had been exhausted.

Magnus and his mother, Marianne Ivarsen, oppose the proposal. She said repeated restraints have affected her son, who can shake during anxiety attacks and cry after returning home. Even less serious incidents at his new school can trigger reactions, she said.

Independent child and school researcher Louise Klinge, who is also a member of the Children’s Council, said physical intervention could damage the relationship between teachers and pupils. Removing a disruptive child could lead to resistance and more aggressive behaviour, she said, and leave the child less willing to follow the teacher’s leadership.

Magnus said he still feels affected when he sees a teacher grab another pupil. At his new school, he said, staff gently guide a child away and ask them to come with them. He said he understood why teachers might intervene, but not as forcefully as they had with him.