Hugh Reilly: We're not in a blackboard jungle yet but sadly if we want peace we must prepare for war

MAYBE I've just been lucky, but I've never been attacked by a pupil during my well-nigh 31-year teaching career. I have, however, been threatened with violence on several occasions

In 1980, the first year of my teaching career, I experienced a baptism of fire when a fifth-year Christmas leaver demanded a "square go".

In the mid-90s, a disturbed teenager told me he would kill me if our paths crossed outside of school. I should have taken his threat seriously because, a few years later, he murdered a lad by sticking a lock-knife in his neck. More recently, a 15-year-old lout menacingly said: "I'm going to spank your bum!" I found this rather alarming.

The reported rise in violent attacks on teachers is to be deplored. A school, however, is only a reflection of the community it serves.

As programmes such as The Scheme and that Cornton Vale classic Girls Behind Bars show, Scotland has a significant sub-class that rejects the norms and values of mainstream society. Research highlights that kids from poor households and broken families are far more likely to be excluded from school. The decision made a decade or so ago to integrate pupils with emotional and behavioural disorders into mainstream schools exacerbated the situation.

Many teachers are angry at the lack of protection. Unlike A&E departments, Job CentrePlus offices or even public transport, there are no signs in schools sternly warning service-users that verbal or physical attacks on staff will not be tolerated. School leaders parrot zero tolerance, but practise infinite tolerance. In my experience, an assault on a teacher by a pupil is rarely treated as a criminal offence. The youngster is suspended for a period of time before returning to the school. In days gone by, the kid would have had to find another school willing to educate him.

To be fair, I believe part of the reason for the increase in reported incidents is the result of a greater willingness of teachers to stand up for themselves. Professional associations zealously pursue local authorities for financial compensation to victims. Some years ago, a colleague retired from the profession after receiving a six-figure sum following a horrific attack by a teenager who had a record of assaulting teachers.

Violence in schools is still relatively rare: teachers are not putting on tin hats or wearing cumbersome Kevlar vests under their tweed jackets. But the problem of pupil violence is increasing, and effective sanctions must be put in place if we are to stem the tide.