Leader: Classroom violence must be confronted

​Schools should be prepared to exclude disruptive children and cases ought to be reported consistently across Scotland

Education leaders have privately admitted a 'sharp increase' in classroom violence has taken place in Scotland's schools

Evidence of a sharp increase in classroom violence should set alarm bells ringing across the Scottish education sector.

The damaging consequences extend beyond the education of the disruptive pupils themselves to that of their classmates, teachers’ wellbeing, and the health of the system as a whole.

Teachers say “almost all” cases in the pronounced rise over the past year are linked to pupils with additional support needs (ASN).

Of course children with ASN must be treated with extra sensitivity.

But has there been a sharp increase in the number of pupils with ASN that corresponds with the rise in cases of classroom violence? If so, what role have the lockdowns of the coronavirus pandemic played in this?

It seems attitudes towards exclusions may also play a part. Emails released under freedom of information laws reveal talks between education directors, government officials and Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth have included “exploration of exclusion guidance”.

Exclusion is a last resort but it must always be an option that schools are prepared to take when dealing with violent and disruptive pupils. One of the most important lessons our children can learn at school is that they must face the consequences of their actions.

The EIS teaching union also expresses concern over consistency in the reporting of incidents in order to develop an accurate picture of the scale of the problem.

Exclusion guidance and consistency of reporting must be high on the agenda of a school violence summit promised by Ms Gilruth following a series of high profile cases.

Neither teachers nor pupils should have to contend with violence in classrooms, and the longer this problem is allowed to fester the harder it will become to attract people to the profession.

Failure to reverse the rise in classroom violence would fail the violent pupils themselves, the teachers who have to deal with them and other children whose education is being disrupted by the unacceptable behaviour of others.