Too scared to step in
Teachers terrified to break up school fights for fear of repercussions.
Teachers are refusing to break up schoolyard fights in case they get charged with assault. New data says more students are being expelled or excluded for attacking teachers — at a rate of almost two per school week — but under-pressure teachers are still waiting for the Ministry of Education to release guidelines on how to deal with violent and extreme behaviour.
More than a year since a taskforce was set up to look at the rules around restraint and seclusion, the Herald on Sun
day can reveal legal debate has delayed the ministry from releasing the long-awaited guidelines.
The delay means frontline staff — those trusted to educate and protect the nation’s youth — fear police charges on the occasions when asking kids to stop fighting isn’t enough.
Educational experts, including a member of the restraint and seclusion taskforce, say New Zealand needs to put a stop to an unfair and a high-stakes situation that undermines teacher and student safety, careers and quality education.
The fears include:
Teachers are avoiding breaking up school fights because they’re scared of legal action Students using social media to organise school “fight clubs” Shocking fight footage being shared online by students Drugs and alcohol fuelling student aggression Anxiety, depression, humiliation and long-term effects for victims of violence Inadequate and unclear levels of support for teachers from school boards
Teachers are demanding to know if they risk police charges for physically separating school fights or defending themselves when students attack.
Drug-fuelled aggression, organised fight-clubs and uncertainty around the law are at the centre of serious concerns among teachers — and what they are legally allowed to do to stop violent and extreme behaviour.
However, debate rages over whether new laws are needed to allow teachers to protect students and themselves, or, whether it’s down to school boards to outline what is an acceptable response.
Executive member of the Secondary Principals’ Association of New Zealand, Patrick Walsh, says the problem of violent school behaviour is evolving beyond playground scraps.
His view is backed by new data showing more students are being expelled or excluded for attacking teachers.
Walsh says how teachers react to violent incidents could even be the difference between life and death.
“Increasingly we’re dealing with students who do exert violent behaviour or even some that potentially selfharm,” Walsh told the Herald on Sunday.
“You might have a student that threatens to kill themselves and begins to run off the school property. In situation like that, what’s a teacher to do?
“If they do commit suicide, how would you feel? On the other hand should you tackle them or stop them leaving school property?
“The problem is the Education Act doesn’t specifically authorise teachers to use restraint on students; there’s no section you can cite in the statute which says we authorise teachers to use force to break up fights.
“There’s not the protection to make sure, if they intervene, they’re not going to end up in court themselves.
“We do need legislation that catches up with the existing context that teachers are there to teach, but unfortunately, sometimes, they are dealing with behaviour which puts other students at risk.”
Ministry of Education statistics, obtained under the Official Information Act, show there were 71 exclusions or expulsions in 2014 for physical assaults on school staff — compared to fewer than 57 the previous year.
In contrast, the number of attacks on fellow students went down, to 157 exclusions and expulsions in 2014 for those assaults, compared to 206 in 2013.
Walsh, the principal of Rotorua’s John Paul College, says drugs, and new technologies are escalating the problem.
“There are some students, not many, but there is a worry about students coming to school under the influence of drugs and they’re very hard to reason with.
“Sometimes the drugs they’re taking can make them very aggress-
ive and irrational. Alcohol seems to be less of a problem,” he said.
“What’s brought it to our attention is social media where students organise fight clubs at the local park in uniform, or even fights on school property.
In the background you can see school teachers yelling at students to stop, but not intervening.
“Parents of a child that’s been assaulted naturally ask the question ‘why aren’t the teachers on duty interfering to break it up’.”
New Zealand Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) president Angela Roberts says issues around violent behaviour have needed clearing up for years, but the solution rests with school boards, not new laws.
“We’ve had conversations about when it’s okay to step in between students for decades,” Roberts said.
“The problem with legislation and guidelines is they’re not necessarily the answer when what you’re requiring is a nimble response.
“The solution is people, it’s not legislation.
“It’s messy and complex, because it involves people.”
The Ministry of Education agrees schools require clear guidelines.
“The evidence is that student behaviour in schools is getting better, not worse,” Kim Shannon, the Ministry’s head of sector enablement and support said.
“Independent research by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research has found that student behavi- our was “much less of a major issue” for secondary schools last year than it had been in 2012 and 2009.
“While fights and other physical conflict at schools are a small issue, schools do need really clear guidance on what to do when these situations come up, and what their powers are.”
Shannon said the ministry was preparing to release two sets of guidelines — one on seclusion and another on restraint.