A fourteen-year-old pupil was injured with a sharp object at a primary school in the Bit Pazar area of Skopje. He was attacked by a classmate, and the incident happened in the school toilet.

According to the Interior Ministry, at 1pm on 24 September a 43-year-old woman, F.A., reported to Skopje police that at around 9am that same day her 14-year-old son had been attacked by a classmate. The boy suffered a cut to his arm. Police say they are taking steps to clear up the case. There are no further details yet about the motive, the object used, or whether any adult was nearby.

Four hours passed between the attack and the report. Who saw a child with a cut arm during lessons, and what did the school do in the meantime? Those are questions for the headteacher and the Education Ministry - not for the mother who went to the police.

The same day the Interior Ministry reported another case from a school. In Kočani, in the changing room of a primary school sports hall, a six-and-a-half-year-old child was physically attacked, undressed and filmed on a smartwatch by several older children. The public prosecutor and the Centre for Social Work have been notified.

School should be the safest place for a child outside the home. When violence between children makes it into police bulletins, the question is no longer just who hit whom, but who was supposed to be watching - and why they weren't.