Violent kids force schools to call cops

Children handcuffed by police as teachers are forced to call 111 increasingly often.

A principal who has had to call police to deal with violent kids says children need better access to mental health support.

The intermediate school head, who asked to remain anonymous to protect the school community, said police had been called to her school to deal with violent children ‘‘four or five times’’ in the past two years.

Once, a child was threatening another with scissors; in two cases, police had to handcuff children to keep them under control.

Police were called to schools or tertiary institutions 2810 times last year to deal with alleged violence, crime and other offending. This included 552 incidents involving ‘‘acts intended to cause injury’’.

But the intermediate principal said calling the police was a last resort.

Generally children who acted up so badly needed mental health care and were very fragile and angry, she added. ‘‘They need high end clinical support, they need therapy. They don’t get it, they’re only treated by teachers and teacher aides. My staff are not therapists.’’

At Rhode Street primary school, principal Shane Ngatai is the only one with authority to call police on kids.

The Hamilton headmaster has done so a few times this year, and said he would not hesitate if his gut and 20 years of experience tell him it’s warranted.

His staff have taken punches, hits or bites from out-of-control children as other pupils fled the classroom, Ngatai said.

Staff will have spent at least half an hour trying to defuse the situation before Ngatai dials 111.

Sometimes it doesn’t work and the child may be threatening to – or trying to – break windows, hurl chairs at the teacher, or at risk of hurting themselves.

Rhode Street School asked for Ministry of Education training on restraint, and all staff members completed it this term, he said.

Police Inspector Paula Holt said the call-out figures showed when the police had been contacted, and a job logged. It did not necessarily mean an act of violence, for example, had eventuated.

NZEI Te Riu Roa president Lynda Stuart said schools were calling police because they did not have the resources to deal with extreme behaviour. They needed more support, such as psychologists and other specialists.

Last year the Government spent about $95 million on behaviour assistance for around 10,000 children. More funding for children was announced in this year’s Budget, with an extra $34.7m over four years to be spent on specialist behaviour services for an extra 1000 children.