Exclusive:Scottish parents threaten 'strike' as school violence crisis leaves them fearing for children

Exasperated parents have warned Scotland’s education secretary they are prepared to take their “petrified” children out of school on “strike” unless there is urgent action to protect them from the surge in classroom violence.

Communications released to Scotland on Sunday show how Jenny Gilruth is being inundated with concerns and complaints from “terrified” parents, pupils, teachers and support staff.

One group of parents told the SNP minister they were considering strike action, while others reported their children had been threatened with knives in Scottish schools, that they were fearing for their lives, and had been traumatised to the point of wetting their beds.

Ms Gilruth has also been told of reports of teachers and school staff being spat at and attacked on a daily basis, and even requiring Tetanus boosters after being bitten by pupils.

The messages can be revealed as frustration grows over the Scottish Government’s failure to publish a detailed plan to address the behaviour crisis, more than a year after action was promised.

It previously emerged that correspondence to the Government relating to school violence had soared towards the end of 2022 and the start of 2023.

Now, a total of 70 pages of “damning” communications from Ms Gilruth’s first year in office, between March 2023 and March 2024, have been released under freedom of information laws.

They show how Ms Gilruth was contacted directly about school violence almost every week on average throughout her first 12 months as education secretary, with much of the correspondence condemning the Government’s failure to act.

In September last year, an email was sent to the Cabinet secretary on behalf of parents at one school, saying: “Even though you are more aware of this situation and how out of control it is becoming, you still do nothing to help improve this dire situation.

“We parents are at a point we are terrified sending our young children to school every day.”

The correspondence added: “The school my children currently attend has seen a massive increase in violent, abusive, and disruptive behaviours and if nothing is done to help it become a safer environment, I intend to organise a strike for our children. It seems this is the only way anyone will sit up and pay attention.”

The memo came a few months after parents at Ferryhill Primary in Edinburgh had also threatened to withdraw their children amid safety fears.

Some parents already have pulled their children out of school, including one family who told Ms Gilruth of the “trauma” their child had experienced at the hands of another pupil, manifesting in various ways, including bedwetting and in-class accidents.

They added: “Not long after this, a particularly alarming incident happened where this same student entered... with a knife.”

Knife threats were also made against the son of a parent who contacted the SNP minister in September last year, saying: “My real concern is that without intervention that this situation could and is likely to escalate. That possibility is an incredible risk to take.”

The flood of emails to Ms Gilruth began just a day after her appointment in March last year, with a parent telling her: “I am genuinely in fear for my daughter’s life whilst she (an attacker) is allowed to remain at the school.

“Looking over the school’s anti bullying policy, my daughter has been let down in almost every pledge on it.”

One year later, Ms Gilruth was still being contacted about the same issue.

“I have a heartbroken (daughter) who is scared to leave the house. Her education is basically zero,” a parent wrote in March this year.

Another told of the mental health impact of the failure of schools and local authorities to take action against the perpetrators of violence.

“My anxieties are through the roof from dealing with this for the last eight months, and now with it (bullying) becoming physical,” the parent said.

“I have seen the school bullying policy and the school are not adhering to it and as a result we are having to live this nightmare.”

The emails to Ms Gilruth were not only from concerned parents, but pupils as well.

One wrote in February this year: “If I was to say that I’m concerned for the future of Scottish education that would be an understatement.”

The young person added: “The main reason for (it) is because schools aren't dealing with bullying. From personal experiences, I am being bullied, and have been for the months, but the school aren't dealing with it.”

A group of school staff contacted the Cabinet secretary to raise their concerns last year, meanwhile.

“On a daily basis we are subjected to violent outbursts and attacks from children across the school,” they said.

“We are verbally abused and insulted and quite often staff are spat on. We go to our management team for support and more often than not they are not available. They rarely back us up and there are no consequences in place what so ever.

“The parents of these children are rarely informed about their unacceptable behaviour and if they are it’s played down.

“Just this week alone six incidents were reported on Monday and Tuesday, SIX serious incidents within 24 hours.”

They questioned Ms Gilruth: “Are you as an MSP not ashamed of the tragic situation we find ourselves in Scottish schools? Something needs to change and it needs to change quickly.”

The SNP minister also faced criticism from members of the public after media appearances where she discussed school violence.

One memo from February this year said: “You seem to be unwilling to investigate or acknowledge that there are major concerns across the country regarding behaviour in schools and the obvious consequences for staff, pupils and attainment across the board.

“Your responses to the interviewee made it clear again and again that your belief is that local authorities must handle these issues (if indeed they exist) on a local level and not yourself as Cabinet secretary on a national level.

“I am baffled, disappointed and feeling fairly hopeless about the future direction of Scottish education.”

In November last year, another member of the public wrote: “Kids are petrified to come to school so are missing out on a decent education, the communication with the school is horrendous, they are so understaffed and under supported, if the foundation is not right then it will fall.”

A few days earlier a parent said: “They get to run riot in school, no discipline what so ever! Pupils being spat at, bitten and yet the guilty ones get rewarded! There are no consequences for bad behaviour. WHY?

“A teacher was at the doctors getting a Tetanus injection after being bitten!!!!”

Liam Kerr, Scottish Conservative education spokesman, said: “This damning correspondence shows that from minute one as education secretary, Jenny Gilruth was being warned about the bullying and behaviour crisis in Scotland’s schools.

“Yet more than a year on, the SNP government are still not treating this problem with the urgency required to fix it and violence has continued to escalate.

“Disorder and violence in schools must be tackled at the root. It puts pressure on teachers, makes life miserable for pupils and places immense stress on families.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Scotland’s schools should be safe learning environments for all – violence and abusive behaviour towards pupils or staff is completely unacceptable. 

“Schools should have policies in place which determine clearly what action should be taken to address challenging behaviour and bullying.

“Changes in behaviour in Scotland's schools since the pandemic are well understood - this is why the Cabinet Secretary committed to holding a series of summits focused on behaviour, convened the headteacher's taskforce and published the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR) last November.

“Additionally, work is well underway to bring forward a joint National Action Plan with COSLA to set out the actions needed at local and national level. This will be published as soon as feasible in the new school year. We expect local authorities to consider how best to implement this national guidance to meet with particular needs and experiences at the local level.”