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fullscreenAnela, 32, was out walking with her partner when an ice ball hit her stroller Photo: Privat
Young people have recently been throwing snowballs at residents in Vasastan in Stockholm.
Anela Toskic was out for a walk when her stroller with her one-year-old daughter was hit by an ice ball.
– I was scared that she could have gotten hurt, but also annoyed that they don’t know where the line is, she says.
Anela was on her way home with her partner last Sunday when a large ball of ice steamed onto the pram’s chassis where her one-year-old daughter was sleeping.
– I quickly looked up at the mountain where I suspected the ice ball had come from, but saw nothing. Then I saw a cyclist coming and warned her. A snowball almost hit the rear wheel, says Anela.
She looked up again at the height of the mountain and saw a group of youths.
– I then see between five and six boys, maybe twelve years old, and shout at them to run away and that I will call the police.
Once home, Anela took matters into her own hands. She called the police and explained what had happened. They took her seriously, said they would take the matter further and urged her to report the incident to the police as the boys could have been guilty of assault.
Several exposed to the same thing
She also posted in a local Facebook group. The cyclist she previously warned thanked for the post and others in the thread said they had been subjected to snowball-throwing youths.
– Many people have written wonderful comments that I show civil courage and that I do something concrete about the matter. Kids are kids and mischief is okay, but when mischief turns into a crime, it’s no longer mischief.
Anela says she wants parents to have a conversation with their children at home about the consequences of their actions.
– Parents must take greater responsibility and talk about the consequences of their children’s actions. That way you do them a favor.
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fullscreen Pram walk in town. Photo: Janerik Henriksson/TT
What do you hope for with the police report?
– I hope that you can walk the streets in all parts of Stockholm without feeling unsafe and that you can be exposed in different ways, says Anela.
– I have enormous respect for the work of the police and I know that there are much more serious crimes to deal with. At the same time, I think it is important not to send signals to children and young people that it is okay to behave in any way, she says.
How do you think about going with a stroller in the future?
– I’m not afraid. But I am aware and always look up, which I didn’t do before.
“In daily dialogue with the schools”
Karina Karlström is a communications strategist at the Northern Inner City district administration. In an email to SVT, she writes that they are working on the problem in their field assistant activities.
“For a few weeks now, the field assistants have increased their presence in the area after school hours after the information reached us. The young people throwing snowballs have not been found. We also raise issues like this in our contact with the schools and in dialogue with the police.”