BBC Scotland and the NASUWT are headlining supposed failures in the Scottish Government to provide up-to-date guidance on pupil restraint as the prevalence of violence in schools supposedly grows.
The evidence is, of course, from their own often ‘schoolboy’ surveys and one or two videos of scuffles in the corridor. Why is there so little video evidence if it’s so prevalent?
I don’t believe it.
In the 50s and 60s, I lived in fear every day, watching severe kickings administered utterly ignored by teaching staff. In the 80s, my own classes would arrived with more than one badly bruised face, most days.
Violence was statistically far more frequent then than now, see the above graphs.
My own children, including three boys, never came home hurt or upset in the 2000s.
Why would schools have experienced a contrary trend in real terms?
This is a classic moral panic, media amplified and used by a trade union to pressurise employers.
The Scottish Government published extended and detailed draft guidance in June 2022, less than two years ago, to replace previous guidance only 5 years-old.
you can read it in full at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/included-engaged-involved-part-3-relationship-rights-based-approach-physical-intervention-scottish-schools/
There is nothing to prevent teachers using this guidance. It has no identified weaknesses or inadequacies. I was a teacher then lecturer in HE for nearly 40 years. For all of that time, I knew what to do. Youth violence in and out of institutions was statistically evidenced to be at least twice as common then as it is now.
Sources:
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
unfortunately, I find I have to disagree with some of what you propose in this piece. My wife is a secondary school teacher in her fortieth year. She loves teaching but is growing to hate the job. I can attest that in her experience, violence is on the increase in her school. This is physical violence as well as verbal and emotional. The aggression in the way that some pupils behave towards others- pupils and teachers- is worsening. Misogyny and sexual references directed at female teachers can only leave the young female students feeling vulnerable. Intimidation follows point blank refusal to behave reasonably to others. Simply, there is no let up. There is a hierarchy of rights; the rights of the serial misbehavers to remain in school trump the rights of the others to be in an environment where they can learn and the right of teachers to be respected in the workplace. The safety valve of alternative places of learning, staffed by specialists teachers to support those of a more violent disposition have gone from all local authorities. The young people who display such behaviour have lost out as a result and those who are subject to witness this behaviour have their learning disrupted during almost every teaching period. From wherever its source , the avoidance to suspend and refusal to expel is what has led us here.
I too was a school teacher (briefly, and in the primary sector) but have been in FE for 32 yrs. The attitude and behaviour of some in high school cannot be compared to what we experience in tertiary education.
whilst I greatly appreciate your highly analytical data-driven analyses, sometimes the data can be manipulated or misleading.
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Thanks
‘in her experience, violence is on the increase in her school’
I’m really sorry to hear that and hope she is well.
‘sometimes the data can be manipulated or misleading’
That’s my point about the union’s self-reporting by self-selective (squeaky wheel) samples.
I am aware of not one reliable independent research review, peer-reviewed, of scientifically sampled surveys, to prove the trend the NASUWT suggests.
Ultimately, I do not believe that violence in schools would have a trend counter to the demonstrably true, police reporting and public opinion surveys, fall in violence more widely.
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Conservative education spokesman Liam Kerr said: “Violence in schools has continued to escalate, with teachers paying the price for the SNP’s abject failure to tackle the issue”
“The SNP have abandoned our hardworking teachers, yet again showing how badly they have dropped the ball on education for 16 years”.
“It should be a source of shame for the SNP that teachers are terrified to go work and some have suffered horrendous injuries”.
“The SNP need to stop dragging their heels and urgently start listening to the solutions Scottish Conservatives, the unions, the teachers and so many others keep telling them so that no more teachers or pupils suffer.”
Meanwhile in England…..whose Education is the remit of Liam Kerr’s party…the Tories.
“Pupil behaviour ‘getting worse’ at schools in England, say teachers”
Nearly one in five teachers in England has been hit by a pupil this year, a survey commissioned by the BBC says.
One teacher told BBC News behaviour was a “never-ending battle”. Another said spitting, swearing and chair-throwing were among the things happening often.
A union says its members are reporting worsening violence and abuse from pupils since the Covid pandemic.
Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT union, says teachers are reporting that violence and abuse in schools “have risen notably” since the pandemic. (In England)
“This is being compounded by cuts to specialist behaviour and mental health services for children, which have left teachers doing their best to fill the gaps and meet the needs of pupils that really require the skills of specialist counsellors and therapists,” he said.
I wonder whether Teaching Union in Scotland also attribute a rise in violence in Scottish Schools as one they have seen since the pandemic ?
If Liam Kerr and his Tory colleagues do indeed as he , Liam Kerr, states have actual “solutions” for Scotland re this then once again…pass these “solutions” onto their HQ party as they seem to appear to have been reported as having “dropped the ball on education” as “teachers” in England are “paying the price for the Tory’s abject failure to tackle the issue” as “Violence in schools has continued to escalate in England”……once again Tories in Scotland sit on a Moral High Horse….casting aspersions, accusing their opposition of “abject failure” and ‘Playing Politics’ while knowing full well their Tory HQ experience the same issues in England on this that they, Tories here, try to attribute as unique to Scotland.
Violence in Schools should be zero tolerance for both teachers and pupils….extreme cases should involve the Police and one would expect extreme behaviour that endangered both teachers and fellow pupils to then, for the pupil involved in this violent behaviour, to be subjected to a suspension and also parents involved in addressing the problem with their child. No one should have to suffer such behaviour and it is far more important to try and support teaching staff & pupils, work to find solutions and try to eliminate this from Schools…..Local councils should also be working together with Schools on this…..but to play party politics and weaponise this is not helpful for those involved in the Schools….one has to get at the root of why these pupils behave in this way…..and ensure that it stops as a behaviour in Schools.
If Tories here, including Liam Kerr, really wanted to find “solutions” to this then they would not have polluted their statement with a political attack….that’s where their sincerity falls down…..yet again.
NMRN
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Presumably this was a recent BBC item which is perhaps an indicator as to why this is now an issue in Scotland. The first commentator used nigh on the same language as the BBC item.
Golfnut.
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I would not be surprised if spikes in aggression have been noted in some schools, kids will have been no less affected by the marked increase in propaganda of recent times, as well as feeling the increasing frustration of their parents in simply trying to get by…
From afar I’ve often wondered when riots would break out in English cities as frustrations finally boil over… , It’s a dangerous game the Tories have been playing in impoverishing the populace, and Labour depressingly look to copy them….
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Indeed bob…well said.
NMRN
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Teacher need more training in additional needs. Children with additional needs can feel anxious and unable to cope. Many teacher do not acknowledge these proceeding. Inclusion means 1 in 20 children are on the spectrum. Often undiagnosed or not acknowledged. The teaching profession need to realise this situation. Instead of condemning children often not to reach their full potential.
Scientific advances in the last ten years+ have brought more a knowledge of those on the spectrum. Often with massive talents. Autistic, ADHD, dyslexic. One in twenty people are on the spectrum. Many with above average talent that need to be utilised. More teachers need to acknowledge these facts. Either get more training in diversity. Or they should be included in teacher training courses.
Paterson is part of the problem lagging far behind for political reasons. Teacher collude in a system for which they have gained and benefitted. Refuse to be open minded to other possibilities.
More teachers have additional needs training and specialise. The diagnosed children get specialised one to one access. To understand and sympathise with the specific problems. The trouble is the unionist councils who are unqualified and cannot organise or administration educational facilities. The root of the problem they do not even qualify or understand. The children need more understanding not forthcoming from the ignorant unionist councils.
The pupils are not being violent, they are having meltdowns. It is perceived as violence but it is a meltdown from being misunderstood in a stressful situation. The additional needs pupils cannot cope. Often undiagnosed until later. A addition needs pupils on the spectrum was overwhelmed in a noisy dinner hall. They had a meltdown. The took up a plastic knife. An untrained classroom assistant called the Police and claimed the small child was violent.
Education has not kept pace with scientific development. Often not acknowledge in the education system. Many school establishments are very well equipped and staffed with excellent professionals. Supporting many talented pupils. A small number need to catch up and become more inquisitive. Most teachers do an extremely good job. The unionists councils need to improve.
The struggles of some families make it difficult to cope. Austerity and Tory unionist Gov are a deterrent to a successful economy and happy people.
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@ Anonymous @ 12.03pm
That was an excellent and very informative comment that you made above.
Thanks for highlighting both some of the existing issues and too initiatives that could and should be implemented that are available to teaching staff that many of us ,as laypersons, were unaware of……and too the lack of engagement , in some cases, of some councils hostile to the Scottish government who, as a council, fail to address and confront these problems within certain schools and Education.
You also managed to convey succinctly how social issues prompted by the current climate of Tory austerity has resulted in what we see in the resulting “meltdown” behaviour via these pupils that solely blames them, the pupils, and not instead some of the root causes that sees this being a behaviour that is both “misunderstood” and also that stems from other current problems that is instigated by others.
This is far more complex than is being reported and based on your comment I think I was being both somewhat both ignorant and naive in my comment on stating that in “extreme behaviour” the “Police should be involved” (excepting obviously any action that results in severe injury/death which is a rarity as an occurrence)……which proves how much comments such as yours via this topic, in this instance, give a more measured and informative input as opposed to my perhaps ‘reactionary’ and ‘ignorant’ use of words in my comment.
NMRN
Have a nice day
🙂
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O/T….as often the case…needs must.
In the constant ‘game’ of ‘Playing Politics’ that we witness in Scotland….where everything connected to the Scottish government/SNP is forensically scrutinised and seems to, as a supposed problem/issue (for whom ?), only being sourced and then highlighted to then come to the same (wrong) conclusion……#SNPBAD….. via those, who themselves as political parties , offer no solutions in addressing the many real problems/issues that they have in the governments their own parties control in Labour Wales and Tory England & the UK…..
However that particular reality, via other parties as governments in other areas in the UK , is treated as a ‘Hot potato’ that is , within Scotland’s media, seemingly subjected to widespread Omertà…..indeed the various opposition party leaders (branch office managers) in Scotland are never subjected to the same scrutiny and interrogation as the SNP and our FM are subjected to in respect to words, actions and policies via their respective parties & leaders at their HQ’s…..which in a forthcoming GE one would at least expect some critique and challenges made, via the media here in Scotland, upon policies and statements made by their various HQ political party leaders that will ultimately, should they win the next UK GE, very much impact Scotland via whoever, as a party, becomes the next UK government.
MSM Monitor noted a headline on the BBC website:
“Hate crime law could damage trust in Police”
Where apparently in the content of this story Ch Supt Rob Hay says “people could feel aggrieved if details are recorded where that been no crime”
MSM Monitor then tweeted:
“The disinformation has started. Details are already recorded for complaints that aren’t a crime and have been for years. Recording such complaints has nothing do do with the new legislation. Folk may now be more aware of hate crime and thus make a complaint where previously they wouldn’t, but that’s a good thing”
I personally think that the majority of “people” who would vocalise their “aggrieved” feelings would be those who always vocalise that they are “aggrieved” by everything and anything that is connected to or implemented by the SNP via all they, the SNP, say and do….which as an “aggrieved” position is then always picked up and promoted by the MSM , who run with it for as long as they can, while also regurgitating it at every opportunity……and who , as a media , behave in the exact same way as the opposition parties do towards the SNP, in them, the MSM, also always concluding that it is bad…or rather #SNPBAD….thus they, the MSM, are nowt but a political extension (Tool) for those who are, politically, in opposition to the SNP……I do hope more in Scotland recognise this as a fact……perhaps also recalling the MSM behaviour during the 2014 Independence Referendum campaign….and also remembering whose side they, the MSM, chose to support…..clue…it was NOT the YES side……which pretty much then also gives us a clue as to why they, MSM, are still against the SNP and why they are still fighting FOR and on behalf of the NO side and the parties who supported that.……
Let’s be honest the only actual real and truthful rationale behind all of these negatively relentless promotion of various ‘aggrieved” positions, attacks, objections and propaganda against the SNP is all to try and stop Scotland ever voting FOR Scottish independence….
That is the real and honest objection at play here……and everything else is just a smokescreen to try and obscure that fact via both the opposition parties and their media……and they are doing it deliberately too….simples.
NMRN
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Yes indeed – I noted in particular HMS James Cook’s preference for the photo of said Ch Supt Rob Hay resplendent in medals with subtitle ‘Ch Supt Rob Hay says there is a number of ways the new law could damage trust in police’ - Does an extra gong matter to Ch Supt Rob Hay or frankly anyone other than James Cook these days when costs are going through the roof https://archive.ph/Q2HBz
Why James Cook is doing this is pretty simple aside his obsession with suits and decorations – James has been instructed to ‘blow smoke’ to the Scottish electorate over what ails England for at least the last week.
Simply take today – Top of BBC World news is the headline ” Peace is not made with arms, says Pope in Easter plea ” translated to ” Pope Francis calls for ceasefire in Gaza and Ukraine in Easter message” in the actual article, note the subtle difference, presumably because it’s un-orthodox Easter ?
Likewise this evening on BBC UK the headline article is “King Charles greets well wishers after Easter service”, whereas ” King Charles appears in public at Easter Sunday church service” appears as header to the actual article.
Meanwhile on BBC Scotland is HMS James Cook’s diversion ”news”…
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“Meanwhile on BBC Scotland is HMS James Cook’s diversion ”news”…
Aye….exactly Bob.
Here’s one for Tory preacher Stephen Kerr…self appointed political morality expert and one who demands ‘Thou shalt not do what my party doth do”…LOL
It was reported in January this year ….sourced from an article in DeSmog:
“Conservative Faction Receives £50,000 from GB News Owner”
“The Dubai-based Legatum Group funds multiple organisations that have advocated against climate action.”
“advocated against climate action”….ah so that would be why all of their ‘presenters’ always target those who fight against fossil fuels continuing to be used in the UK and too why they, GB News, also deny what is happening with the climate, including that Walloper , and former BBC luvvie, Neil Oliver…..makes sense now…..
“The ‘New Conservatives’ group of Tory MPs received a £50,000 donation in December from the investment fund behind GB News, DeSmog can reveal”.
“New Electoral Commission records show that the Legatum Institute Foundation gave the sum in December last year, the joint-largest recorded donation to the Conservative faction”.
“The Legatum Institute Foundation’s principal financial backer is the Legatum Group, a Dubai-based investment fund that bankrolls the right-wing broadcaster GB News, a leading opponent of climate action. A DeSmog investigation in May revealed that one in three GB News hosts spread climate science denial on air in 2022, while half attacked climate policies”.
“GB News presenters have claimed that net zero will cause “death by poverty and starvation”, that the policy “poses an existential threat to the free world”, and have called for the UK to “drill, baby, drill” for more fossil fuels”.
Read the article by them, DeSmog, dated Jan 18 2024.
Meanwhile Ofcom does a (Constipation Street) Mavis Riley whenever they have been challenged on GB News favouring the Tory party with Tory MP’s being presenters on this channel and thus tis biased and blatant politicking on a supposed TV Channel broadcast in the UK….in them, Ofcom, saying ‘Oh I don’t really know”
Same Ofcom that found the channel Russia Today “breached the impartiality rules” thus they, Ofcom, revoked their licence……but somehow GB News & too Talk TV can spin, lie, promote their obvious opposition and political bias against some political parties in the UK where apparently these do not constitute, for Ofcom, either of these channels “breaching impartiality rules”…..who knew Ofcom’s HQ was in a parallel Universe….as within this Universe it is a case of…..if it looks like a Duck, walks like a Duck and quacks like a Duck then it may just…..be a Duck.
NMRN
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Now retired, and having met people who are at a different point on the spectrum from myself, I look back at my teaching career and profoundly regret the lack of awareness of the existence of neurodiversity, let alone training in how to relate to the wide range of behaviours that I now consider to be normal but which, back in the day, were regarded as unacceptable.
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OT, I see James Cook plonked on the BBC’s main UK page with the snappy title ” Scotland’s new hate crime law… in 90 seconds “, feeding into ” The BBC’s James Cook breaks down the debate over a new hate crime law in Scotland which has been causing a stir. “
If anyone knows about causing a stir, it’s James Cook…
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The BBC and the Conservatives and Labour and Lib Dem and the newspapers radio and tv channels are part of englands propaganda war on Scotland orchestrated by westminster , we in Scotland now know this , we now know too that none of them are trustworthy we cannot believe a word they say , this is because we have been bombarded with lies and deceipt every day since 2014 and thats just the lies and deceipt we know about , its very likely this wen on long before 2014 .The internet has helped us a lot to uncover the truth and disect the reports we get in our media.In these circumstances we cannot believe anything they say , even a report about children has to be thoroughly inspected , shame on them they stoop so low , violence in school has existed since wchools began some of it by the teachers themselves as i recall , belts , canes , locked in cupboards etc yes children get into fights boys,,,and girls too , they are not only learning maths , english , geography etc they are learning to communicate and behave responsibly towards each other , its normal , its human .Violence the term , nowadays is stretched to cover so so much , even verbal alone is referred to as violence , schools are responsible for dealing with any untoward behaviour including violence thay have regulations and a code of practice to follow , some will have more some less violent behaviour , does the wealth of the parents play a part ? one would imagine it does but bullying happens in the wealthiest of areas and bullying can include violence.So when i see someone claiming an increase in violence at school i ask myself , by whom ? what kind ? when where and how often and then i ask increased from what to what ? There is a great tendency these days to measure everything in percentages , just yesterday i read a report on a change in voting intentions that claimed a 100% change amongst those questioned , closer examination revealed just six yes 6 people gave an answer when questioned many more refused to answer but claiming that six out of six people questioned gives any useful indication of the world around us is laughable .As for this claim that violence in schools has increased i would want proof , actual numbers and actual names of schools with a breakdown and description of the type of incident and type of violence and who reported it before i would accept it as true and of course …no percentages .Some classes have just ten pupils , if two of them have a fight thats 20% of the class and if there had not been any fights recently you could claim a 20% increase , would it be a problem worthy of reporting in the national news ?
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O/T
Keir Starmer apparently ‘Facing a backlash as MP’s unhappy about Union Jack election flyers”
Flags…..Labour’s leader loves to display but one flag (well actually two…either side of him) and tis the Butcher’s Apron…..in speeches and at Labour party conferences.
This is Labour’s “performance art” of patriotism we are told and not Nationalism…..
Cue Ian Murray who once said in respect to Scottish independence “You can’t eat Flags” and yet in March 2022 he also said on “Flags” that “The SNP must stop fighting flags and put their shoulder to the wheel to help those who need it most, just fostering grievance simply isn’t good enough”….and in 2020 he wrote an article for the Fabian’s society that “We get no answers from SNP politicians other than a wave of a flag“
It seems that Ian has NO problem with Labour waving a certain flag…..or indeed his leader having two ‘certain’ flags displayed either side of him when making speeches to promote a fake country or indeed the colours of that flag as the backdrop at any Labour party conference. (or party election leaflets…LOL)
Indeed one could argue that the only Flag Ian is fighting against is the Scottish flag……..
Is there any other country in the world that does not have a flag as a symbol to represent their country as it , via it’s unique design and colours, signifies the country it is….should they, other countries in the world, also be ashamed to fly, wave and display their flags….why is it that people like Ian Murray demands and assumes that Scotland be, once again, unique in not being “allowed” to have pride in it’s own flag while simultanously expecting people in Scotland to embrace the Burcher’s apron as their flag……to replace the Saltire….and if the party currently in government within Scotland want to fly, wave and display Scotland’s flag whenever they want ….why is that a problem for Ian Murray…..it’s not as if he and his party has an aversion to flags is it…..
Imagine for one moment any MP challenging anyone upon using the English Flag…..in waving it, displaying it or flying that flag ….the backlash would reverberate for ages in the media…..but then that is a flag Ian would never highlight as one that should be replaced with the Butcher’s apron…..God forbid…..just now Starmer may be seemingly seeking to make everything ‘British’ one should not forget that he also embraces and celebrates England (and it’s flag) and it’s “unique contribution” and “achievements” to his Britain…thus the English flag is, as a symbol, more than acceptable to be waved, flown and displayed together with the Butcher’s apron.
Proud to be British…no…..as what the H is there to be proud of …..hence why that flag that represents it will never be welcomed as a symbol (of oppression) by many of us in Scotland….will it be a backdrop design on election leaflets issued to Scottish households….one wonders….and if some MP’s are objecting to using Union Jack election flyers….with the Union Jack the part they object to….then why should Scotland and it’s people worship the country that it the Union Jack represents ?
Cue Ian Murray…..but…but…but…#SNPBAD
NMRN
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The Union Jack suit.
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