Three pupils a day sent home from Scots schools over weapon attack
Pupils are being suspended from schools in Scotland at a rate of upwards of three times a day for assaults with weapons including knives, it has emerged.
Official figures show such attacks are on the rise in recent years. There are now calls for teachers to be given more support to deal with such situations, for the safety of both pupils and staff.
However, the Scottish Government insisted there has been a dramatic fall in weapon crime in recent years.
The issue of weapons in Scotland’s schools was thrust into the spotlight two years ago when Bailey Gwynne, 16, was stabbed to death during a confrontation in Aberdeen’s Cults Academy with fellow pupil Daniel Stroud, also 16.
There were 428 instances of a pupil being excluded for a physical assault using weapons such as knives in the previous school year, 2016-17, according to recently published figures. There were also a further 311 incidents involving “improvised” weapons.
That total of 739 is higher than the 661 incidents two years previously and the 710 reports in 2013.
A further 434 pupils were excluded over the threat of violence with a weapon.
Scottish Conservative early years spokeswoman Michelle Ballantyne said the figures were “alarming”.
She said: “Parents will be horrified that two pupils a day are excluded for violent incidents involving a weapon, either conventional or improvised.
“That shows a problem with discipline remains within our schools and that teachers need more support in dealing with it for the sake of their own safety and that of other pupils.”
The Scottish Government introduced guidelines for schools in the aftermath of Bailey Gwynne’s death, and pledged last year to ensure all councils were amassing data on knives collected in schools.
The latest official figures on exclusions also show there were 1,734 pupils put out of schools for fighting, and 361 for substance misuse.
Theft (89), fire-raising (190) and even indecent exposure (14) also featured on the list.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “These figures should be seen in the overall context of a 64 per cent reduction in crimes of handling offensive weapons over the last decade. The number of overall exclusions is also less than half the comparable figure from 2006-7.
“We are working with schools and local authorities on anti-violence campaigns and curriculum programmes on a range of initiatives.
“In Scotland it is already illegal to sell knives or similar products with blades or points to anyone under the age of 18, including online, and also illegal to sell cutlery and kitchen knives to those under 16.”
The prospect of radical new “search powers” for teachers has already been ruled out after it met with a frosty reaction from teaching unions and
parents groups, as well as the police and medics.
An EIS spokeswoman said: “Schools and local authorities generally have robust procedures which make clear to all pupils the serious consequences of carrying any type of potential weapon and the EIS is clear that a zero tolerance approach should be taken to incidents involving violence or the threat of violence.”