One teacher attacked every 10 minutes in Scots schools

A TEACHER or member of staff in a Scottish school is subjected to a violent attack every ten minutes of the school day, new figures reveal.

School staff in Scotland faced at least 7,692 incidents of violence in the 2009-10 term - a rise of 27.94 per cent from the 6,012 incidents from the previous year.

The figures - revealed in a freedom of information request - include incidents of pupils biting, kicking, swearing, shouting and throwing objects at staff.

In some cases, staff were attacked with weapons. Some of the attacks were so serious that teachers and staff were forced to take time off work.

The most number of incidents of violence took place in Scotland's largest local authority, Glasgow City Council, with 1,182 recorded.

Edinburgh City Council recorded 1,059 incidents, a rise of 413 from the previous year.

Aberdeen City Council recorded 466 violent incidents in 2009-10, Perth and Kinross Council recorded 294, South Lanarkshire 289, Argyll and Bute 286 and Renfrewshire 271.

Ann Ballinger, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association, said the figures were "depressing" but did not surprise her.

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She said: "Teachers have a disciplinary role, which will make them a target for pupils. You definitely get teachers who are now scared of their pupils, although I think it is very varied. One teacher will never have come across violence in school, whereas a teacher nearby will have to deal with it on a daily basis."

Liz Smith, Tory spokeswoman for children, schools and skills in the Scottish Parliament, said: "It is particularly worrying that there has been a large increase in these attacks, and I hope the respective schools and education authorities will work together to address this issue urgently.

"There needs to be a zero tolerance approach to violence, and that is why the Scottish Conservatives believe that head teachers should have more power to search pupils if they believe they may be carrying a weapon or a dangerous implement and why persistently unruly and aggressive pupils should be removed from mainstream classes."

An EIS teaching union spokesman said: "The EIS believes in the fundamental principle that teachers have the right to teach and that young people have the right to learn in a safe and disciplined environment.

"Any incident of violence, physical or verbal, in our schools is wholly unacceptable and must be treated with a zero tolerance approach. Any pupil who resorts to physical violence against any member of school staff should automatically forfeit their right to remain in that school."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The vast majority of pupils in our schools are well behaved and a credit to Scotland.However, any attack on a teacher is one too many and the Scottish Government is committed to working with our partners to continue to improve behaviour in schools.

"Independent, national research (Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research 2009] found that overall perceptions of behaviour, including positive behaviour, low level negative behaviour and serious indiscipline and violence have improved since 2006; and teachers are confident in promoting positive behaviour and managing negative behaviour."