“This is a normal reaction to the violence and aggression faced by students from teachers. We have grown up and demand that our rights are protected and preserved,” said one of the campaign’s 45 organizers, Hanan Ali Al-Qarni, a pharmacy student at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah.

Al-Qarni added that the students will forward their demands to the Ministry of Education and the National Society for Human Rights, especially since many people have pledged their support.

She further called on the Ministry of Education to issue clear guidelines containing the rights of students similar to those issued for students telling them how they should conduct themselves in educational institutes and with teachers.

“The ministry should spread a culture of recognizing students' rights and should make rules that protect students from physical and verbal abuse of teachers,” she said, adding that the dignity of students should be protected and that there should be a complete ban on mistreating them.

“Teachers should not badmouth students, humiliate them in front of others or raise their voices when reprimanding them,” she said.

Students have also called for the setting up of student councils that would be elected by students themselves in order to lodge complaints against Departments of Education across the Kingdom. “We do not have accurate statistics about the mistreatment of students but we see and hear of incidents every day. This has to stop otherwise students will lose their self-confidence and become psychologically hurt,” Hanan said.