School violence Scotland: Almost everyone is talking about rising school violence - everyone except most Scottish education chiefs

Three-quarters of education directors said they had no emails on the subject in 2023

School violence is one of the biggest issues in Scotland today.

It has often felt like everyone is talking about it – not least parents, pupils, teachers and politicians. Everyone, that is, except the majority of local authority education directors, it seems.

Under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws, The Scotsman asked the nation's 32 councils to release all emails, sent to or from their top education official in 2023, in which there was discussion of any recent rise in school violence.

Most education directors in Scotland have not sent or received any emails on the issue of rising school violence

Of the 26 local authorities which have responded, 19 said there had been zero communications relating to this subject in the past six months. These included Glasgow City, Edinburgh City, Aberdeen City, North and South Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, East and West Lothian, and Perth and Kinross.

It follows reports last month the Cabinet of the Scottish Government was still to discuss the matter. How is it possible that three-quarters of Scottish education directors have neither received nor sent an email in 2023 about a trend that has been described as a looming national scandal?

Well, of course, one explanation would be there has been no local rise in incidents in these areas. However, this would be a surprise to many, not least the teachers and pupils who have reported witnessing an upward trend.

It would also be in stark contrast to the situation described by officials at the councils, which have released email communications to The Scotsman. The lack of responses could also be a result of the way the FOI request was framed.

For example, councils would have searched for communications referencing "violence", while many in education prefer not to refer to incidents in this way.

Whether or not local education directors have been sending and receiving emails on the subject, clearly they may still be having in-person or online meetings about it, as well as old fashioned phone conversations.

Concerned parents, pupils and staff will certainly hope that has been happening regularly, because this is an issue most will believe demands the urgent attention of those in charge.