The 66-year-old literature teacher, in her final year before retirement, is in shock but not in a life-threatening condition. A 13-year-old pupil has been identified as the attacker.
A teacher was injured on Friday morning after a pupil sprayed her with pepper spray and then stabbed her at a middle school in Rome’s Centocelle district, according to sources.
The victim, 66-year-old Italian literature teacher Isabella Marsilio, was in her final year of teaching before retirement. She was treated by emergency services at the scene and taken to hospital. Her injuries are not life-threatening, though she remains in shock. The attacker, a 13-year-old pupil at the school, reportedly attempted to livestream the incident via Telegram. Another pupil intervened to stop the attack.
“Terrified and unable to fathom what happened”
Mauro Caliste, president of Rome’s fifth municipality, and Cecilia Fannunza, the local councillor for education, visited Marsilio in hospital. “She is terrified and cannot fathom what happened or why,” they told ANSA, describing a teacher who had “dedicated her entire life to the school and the students.” The pair said the borough would open a youth centre next week, in part to give young people “greater oversight” away from social media.
The school’s head teacher said the boy had shown no prior warning signs and was not considered a problem student, either at school or, as far as was known, at home. He described the school community as shaken and asked for privacy given the ages of those involved. Classmates told reporters the boy had recently received a failing grade and blamed the teacher for it.
Renewed debate over under-15s and social media
Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri called the incident “disturbing”, saying it “challenges us all”. Amid reports the boy had recently been spending time on violent online content, Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said the case strengthened the argument for restricting social media access for under-15s in Italy, pointing to the EU’s proposed Kids Act as “a step in the right direction”.
He said Italy needed to combine stronger protections online with “restoring respect for teacher authority and rules… in daily school life”.
In March, a teacher in Bergamo was stabbed by a pupil outside the school.
