The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Teachers under attack in north east classrooms
Soaring number of assaults and weapon threats facing school workers in region ‘beggars belief ’
CONCERNS have been raised about the safety of teachers in the north and north-east with the number of attacks on school staff with weapons soaring more than 20% in just three years.
Youngsters launched hundreds of assaults on educators in schools across the region last year alone, with the equivalent of almost a dozen incidents recorded every day.
In some cases teachers have been confronted with weapons including knives, BB guns and maths compasses. One local authority has even introduced a specialist task force to respond to violent incidents in the classroom.
Meanwhile other councils have signed teachers up for aggression limitation training and invited police offers to explain the dangers to youngsters.
Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr said it “beggars belief ” that school staff are entering the classroom in fear of being attacked.
He added: “Our education authorities must adopt a zero tolerance approach to weapons in schools.”
His thoughts were echoed by North East Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald, who said: “One attack on a teacher is one too many. Teachers, pupil support assistants and other school staff deserve full support in dealing with unruly behaviour, and young people need to be left in no doubt that physical violence towards staff at school is always unacceptable.”
North and northeast teachers are being attacked on a daily basis with weapons including BB guns, saws and classroom furniture.
Shocking figures have revealed hundreds of such incidents in schools across the region in the last academic year alone.
Between August 2017 and June of this year, 874 assaults were launched on teaching staff in the Highlands – 175 of these with weapons, while 217 of the 821 attacks involved weapons in Moray.
Aberdeen City Council said its data for last year is still being validated, but confirmed it had logged more than 1,000 assaults over the previous two school years.
There were 85 assaults in Aberdeenshire over the past year with details of 16 weapons recorded.
Documents from each of the councils, obtained by The P&J, show school staff have been forced to seize multi-tools, craft knives and maths compasses from youngsters in what are thought to have been premeditated attacks.
A large number of the incidents involved improvised weapons including darts, display boards, knitting needles and frying pans – all readily available during lessons.
The documents also show a largely upward trend in the number of attacks across the north of Scotland, with only Highland Council experiencing a decrease over each of the last three school years.
Of the 764 attacks in Moray in 2015-16, 152 involved weapons. In the Highlands, there were 183 weapons recorded as being used in the 1,033 attacks over the same year.
Liam Kerr, Scottish Conservative justice spokesman, said: “It is alarming to hear that attacks on teachers are still so prevalent in our schools.
“Teachers should be able to enter the classroom without fear of assault.
“Quite frankly, it beggars belief that staff have been subjected to attacks with BB guns and saws in some examples. That is totally unacceptable.”
North East Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald said: “One attack on a teacher is one too many.
“Teachers, pupil support assistants and other school staff deserve full support in dealing with unruly behaviour, and young people need to be left in no doubt that physical violence towards staff at school is always unacceptable.”
A large number of initiatives have been put in place to cut down on the number of assaults in schools.
Moray Council has assembled a specialist team to respond to violent situations then examine the incidents to identify triggers.
Meanwhile, teachers in Aberdeenshire are given crisis and aggression management training to handle bad behaviour in the classroom. Elsewhere, Aberdeen City Council said a change from paper reporting to an online system was responsible for its increase in attack numbers and confirmed that its safety policies and guidance issued to staff are reviewed regularly. A spokesman for Highland Council said: “Highland schools work closely with the police in ensuring pupils know we have zero tolerance when it comes to weapons in schools.
“Whatever the intent of pupils who bring such items into school, and it is usually clear there is no ill intent, they will be confiscated and appropriate actions taken – including discussion with the pupil and parents.
“This proactive approach is clearly having a positive impact.”
“One attack on a teacher is one too many”