Professor John Robertson OBA
In the Mail today:
Teachers are quitting the profession en-masse, as they battle impossible workloads, toxic work environments, a ‘broken’ Special Educational Needs system, and surges in student violence. Earlier this year, the Teachers’ Union estimated there were 30,000 violent incidents involving a pupil attacking a teacher with a weapon in a 12-month period. Children as young as four have been found in possession of knives, while some school have installed metal detectors, or ‘knife arches’, in a bid to curb attacks.
According to Sky in February 2025: Almost one in five teachers have seen students with knives in England’s schools, Sky News survey finds
I wonder what ratio of Scottish Teachers will have seen students with knives?
From Police Scotland:
Having in a school an article with a blade or point
- 2023/2024 – 22 cases
- 2022/2023 – 25 cases
- 2021/2022 – 71 cases
- 2020/2021 – 48 cases
- 2019/2020 – 87 cases
- 2018/2019 – 76 cases
- 2017/2018 – 96 cases
Source: Crime data – Police Scotland
So, each incident might mean more than one teacher sees the knife possession – say, 4?
There are 54 000 teachers in Scotland and if say, every knife possession incident is seen by 4 of the staff, we can divide the above Police Scotland case numbers into 1 300 to get the rough ratio.
So, last year 1 in 590 Scottish teachers saw students with knives and 7 years ago it was 1 in 135. Some way to go to get to 1 in 5?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Ah, but …. even if it’s reportit that disnae mean the polis dae anythin aboot it. So, thae nummers is gaun doon because it’s no worth reportin, wi a tha paperwork. So, whit’s reportit is jist the tip o an iceberg an everywan knows Thurr a hunner times merr ablow the surface than above it. 16 teachers is murderit every day, but the Jannies is tellt tae pit the boadies in the school furnace, so that thurrs nae evidence.
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