CAIRO - The January 25 revolution ridded Egypt of the Mubarak regime, causing radical changes in society. But it seems to have provided a new chore for parents who have children at school: escorting them to school, especially in popular districts. Egyptians don't normally accompany their children to school, unless it's far from home, which isn't the case for most children. But a number of incidences of thuggery, allegedly targeting schools, have led to a big change. It is now the order of the day for Egyptians of all classes, especially mothers, to walk or drive their children to school, and then accompany their home in the afternoon. The country has been experiencing a fearful sense of insecurity in recent weeks, ever since the eruption of the youth revolution. Horrifying stories abound about thugs breaking into people's homes, in order to rob and kill them. Thugs have been stopping people in broad daylight and robbing them at knifepoint or gunpoint. Cars have been stolen from their drivers, who are killed if they offer resistance. Such frightening tales have been, and still are, the talk of the town, even if some of them have proven to be no more than fiction. Schools, pupils and teachers have had their share of these fearful experiences. Fear for pupils' safety was the main reason why schools were closed for more than a month amidst the revolution. The police are gradually returning to the streets after their dramatic withdrawal on January 28, but parents still don't feel that their kids are safe. “I drive my children to and from school,” a mother in her late thirties told The Gazette outside a preparatory school in Doqqi. “We have suffered from insecurity for long weeks. We have heard about thugs robbing pupils of their valuables, mostly mobiles and money,” the frightened housewife added. “Sometimes I sit in my car for hours, waiting for my two children to walk out of the school gates.” A group of four mothers who have struck up a friendship, thanks to their having to wait for a long time every day for their children outside the same school, blamed the security bodies for the problem. They urged the ruling military to protect the schools, since the police seem reluctant to do their job. “I have a daughter in grade 2 and I take her to school early in the morning. I arrive one hour before the school day and wait for her. We're not just afraid of hardened thugs, but also other young people who seem to have nothing to do,” a humble-looking woman, who gave her name as Om Ahmed (Ahmed's mother), told this paper. “Our daughters get harassed by young men playing with knives outside the school. There is no one to protect them, so we try it,” she added, pointing to a young man holding a vicious-looking dog on a leash. “Where are the police? Why do they leave our children at the mercy of the thugs?” a civil servant, Nawal Ahmed, screamed as she stood outside a school in the populous district of Imbaba. “I'm late for my work every morning because I have to take my daughter to school, and have to leave early to take her home.” Essam Abdel-Hamid, who has a daughter at Ahmed Zoweil Preparatory School in Imbaba, told Al-Wafd daily: “All forms of thuggery can be seen here. In the absence of police, pupils, teachers and parents have to run the gauntlet of the thugs.” Other mothers and fathers said they'd heard various stories about thugs breaking into schools and attacking the children and staff alike. “The end-of-year exams are coming up soon and we're afraid that bad things could happen,” one man, waiting for his children outside the same school, told this paper on condition of anonymity. “A thug punched me in the face and everyone was too scared to tackle him,” said one young pupil at the school.
