Teachers want action as student assault rates on staff escalate

Stuff.co.nz 3 July 2020
Family First Comment: “the number of physical assaults on staff has almost doubled in five years.”
If they want to know the real reasons for this development, they only need read our recent report – “A DOG’S BREAKFAST – New Zealand’s Anti-Smacking Law 13 Years On”. It explains exactly why we’ve got to where we are with violence in our schools. https://www.familyfirst.org.nz/smacking-law-2020/

Teachers being hit, kicked and bitten, chairs thrown and windows smashed – these are some of the scene that play-out in Kiwi classrooms as the number of physical assaults on staff has almost doubled in five years.

In 2014, 714 children were stood-down or suspended for violence. By 2018 that had risen to 1360.

Canterbury had the highest number of stand-downs and suspensions for physical assaults on staff in 2018 with 263 cases, followed by 222 in Auckland.

A lack of mental health support for primary pupils is to blame for violent behaviour in the classroom, teachers say.

Stuff spoke to two primary teachers and a teacher aide at a special school and agreed not to name them.

One Christchurch teacher said mental health issues were the main cause of violent behaviour in schools and more funding was needed to for wrap-around services.

“We have children who come to school with issues but there is no funding or support for those issues,” she said.

“They act-out violently. They kick, hit and bite and it sometimes takes four or five weeks to get help, that’s half a term.”
READ MORE: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/122028768/teachers-want-action-as-student-assault-rates-on-staff-escalate

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