How SNP's 'progressive' ideas about education risk producing a generation of violent misogynists

It is yet another grim metric that can be used to chronicle the decline of Scotland’s public services. According to information obtained by The Scotsman, school staff were paid nearly £1 million in compensation after violent incidents in secondary and primary schools over the past five years.

It is a figure that should invite some reflection among those who continue to insist that pupils should almost never be expelled, that the “presumption of mainstreaming” is in the best interests of troubled children who clearly need more specialist help than can be provided in a school setting, and that teachers who are unable to control their unruly charges are the ones to blame.

Councils which responded to freedom of information requests revealed that a total of £878,393.80 was paid out over the five-year period. However, five councils did not reply, so the sum is likely to be higher.

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Schools should be safe places where violence is not tolerated (Picture: Georges De Keerle) | Getty Images

‘Inexcusable tide of violence’

Our revelations prompted concern across the political spectrum. Scottish Conservative councillor Marie-Clair Munro, a member of Edinburgh’s education committee, described the figures as “deeply concerning” and an indication of the “alarming and inexcusable tide of violence in Scotland’s schools”.

And the EIS teaching union warned: “Rising compensation payments to victims in recent years are a symptom of the growing problem of violence in schools, which must be tackled by local authorities and the Scottish Government as a matter of urgency.”

On a related theme, the EIS has developed a new theatre-based programme designed to help tackle the spread of misogyny in schools, the dangers of which were highlighted in the acclaimed TV drama Adolescence.

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EIS president Adam Sutcliffe said: “With rising violence and aggressive behaviours towards women workers, and with more and more women and girls feeling unsafe due to sexism, and boys and men under significant pressure to uphold misogynistic attitudes, a shift is urgently needed.”

As a society, we cannot allow a generation of children to grow up thinking that violence does not have serious consequences and that sexism and other prejudices can somehow be justified.

SNP ministers need to wake up, and quickly, otherwise their so-called ‘progressive’ approach to education may create legions of young adults whose values are anything but.