Teacher assaults
May 31st, 2010 at 6:58 am by David FarrarThe Dom Post reports:
At least two secondary teachers are seriously assaulted by pupils every school day, a union survey shows.
The Post Primary Teachers Association says teachers are being punched, kicked, struck with objects, or verbally abused.
I share the concern over teacher safety. Some horrendous assaults have occurred on teachers.
However it would have been useful to not include verbal abuse under the definition of assault. Verbal abuse is also quite unacceptable, but I want to know what proportion of these ten assaults a week are physical, and verbal.
She insisted, however, that it was not a problem in every school.
Principals contacted by The Dominion Post said the majority of assaults were verbal but in a disturbing trend, the age of students responsible for serious assaults such as stabbings were getting younger.
I’d hate to see metal detectors in schools, like in the US, but I do despair at what one can do about these stabbings of teachers.
Education Minister Anne Tolley said while there was “no magic wand” to deal with violence in schools, the Government was taking it very seriously. It had given an extra $15m over two years that would help thousands of teachers receive extra training, including in effective classroom management.
This is well intentioned, but maybe the funding needs to go to detect unstable kids and make sure they get treatment.
Related posts:
- Plan for dealing with disruptive kids too late says PPTA
- Sounds worthwhile
- Student Success
- The battle for standards
May 31st, 2010 at 7:00 am
Perhaps bringing back corporal punishment would help? After all, weren’t we always told that removing corporal punishment would make kids less violent? That smacking teaches them that violence is a way to get things done.
Don’t think it would make things any worse.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 7:14 am
there was “no magic wand” to deal with violence in schools
Really? I know of one.
Clearly abolishing corporal punishment has done wonders at schools. Now it is going to do wonders at home.
But don’t expect National to do anything about it. Parents may not choose has John Key ruled.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 7:23 am
heh – give me the funding to detect ‘unstable’ kids no probs. Invest in a goodly number of bamboo switches.
Any kid that causes grief ( no cops, counselors, suspension crap) marched to principal’s office, bent over chair, = 6 of the best.
Kid then told that any more lip and they get a second dose. Kid sent back to class with a fricken sore backside and a good dose of wisdom.
Same thing happens at primary school but with a leather strap.
Simple duh – but nah won’t happen – lets have security guards and teachers walking in pairs for ‘safety’ crap.
Man this country has gone to the dogs
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 7:50 am
“Seriously assaulted” probably means just that. If you included verbal assaults or intimidating behaviour it would be closer to two per day per teacher.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 7:56 am
In the old days, the kid would have received the strap/cane well before behaviour escalated to the point of assaulting the teacher .
The people who banned corporal punishment in schools are directly responsible in part for these childrens lives spiralling out of control .
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 8:25 am
Verbal assaults??? I thought most of my teachers were losers and bullies. It was not until I got to University that I thought the teaching profession had people of some talent. But they can take it. Physical assaults are different, they should not have to endure that.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 8:55 am
berend (450) Says:
May 31st, 2010 at 7:14 am
Thats why we voted our party votes to ACT last time and will again next time until qwe are not criminals for giving our kids a smack on the bum if we decide they need one.
Until the school boards can expel kids as they need without all the hoops the MOE makes them go through this won’t change.
There is no incentive for good behaviour such as removal from the environment permanently and at present, a stand down is a holiday.
The corporal punishment removal and anti smacking bill is a result of choosing to seeing and treating kids as adults which they are not.
Vote:Until this is changed nothing will change and I suggest will get worse as the state becomes larger and more intrusive in daily life and choices.
May 31st, 2010 at 8:57 am
How about all those poor bloody kids who have to share a classroom with scumbag kids. Their learning and schooling is disrupted. How about giving parents a tax credit to spend at the school of their choice rather than forcing their kids to share classroom space with out of control kids who ar elittle better than animals.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 8:59 am
During my father’s period at one of the school’s he was an associate principal at he collected a nice little collection of knives from pupils. The joys of teaching at a decile 1 school.
Its ok though it is those schools which are to lose funding due to Act’s success in getting funding reviewed on pupils attending later in the year, which of course affects lower decile schools more than decile 10, not to mention working out the roll of a lower decile school is a fricken nightmare due to late enrolments, as opposed to higher decile schools who know 5 months in advance and can shock and horror plan for them.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 9:00 am
Indeed. It’s taken close to 40 years of quietly forced social liberal ideology to get us where we are today. The concepts of limits, consequences and respect for authority are as unknown to many of the parents and teachers as they are to the students.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 9:01 am
Mike, the reason that the most problematic kids exist in schools is generally because they have been a) physically abused, b) sexually abused c) effectively not had a parent d) all of the above.
The removal of physical punishment has nothing to do with it.
However I completely agree the hoops schools need to go through to expell a student is problomatic, and accordingly shitty kids, often beyond saving with the resources avaliable drag down other ‘normal kids’.
Its a problem
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 9:07 am
@Jeff83 – I disagree. Correction, which may include physical correction, part of an overall package of setting limits and conveying the cause-effect principle is essential.
We should never return to the days where sadistic teachers could beat kids – and that absolutely did happen.
However the other end of the spectrum where we are today, namby-pamby no-fault, no-consequence liberal anarchy, isn’t working out too well either.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 9:18 am
Let schools permanently expel pupils who cause problems. No second-guessing or reinstatement/review by any other body. Give schools autonomy in setting standards for behaviour. School should be a place that the students need to rise to, rather than sink into.*
Mental exercise: A new law forces hotels to take all customers, including those who wreck the room, refuse to pay and keep coming back. Would there be any nice hotels in the country after 2 years?
*But what about the kids who get expelled? Tough, and there would be a lot less of them if standards were upheld. Does the army have problems with disruptive people?
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 9:18 am
Brian Smaller (2599) Says:
May 31st, 2010 at 8:57 am
I was on my sons BOT and listened to the teachers talk about the flu going round, in allc ases it made teaching more effective as smaller classes and more important in some cases the problem children were off!
Vote:1 in a class is an issue and degrades the learning environment but 2 or 3 makes it crazy sometimes so they love the flu in some cases.
May 31st, 2010 at 9:21 am
Jeff83 (667) Says:
May 31st, 2010 at 9:01 am
I agree with all you say but that doesn’t help the teachers or the kids who get bullied or have their learning environment disrupted by that.
Apologies but Problomatic is a stupid response.
It stops them (BOT, Principal) having effective control over the environment, For which they are charged with keeping the other kids safe physically and emotionally by statute for.
c) effectively not had a parent
Vote:Or poor parenting which is a different matter !
This is the case with the socialist liberal no blame shame parenting.
May 31st, 2010 at 9:25 am
The board should appoint a discipline master. Likely candidate = sports master. Only he is able to cane/strap. Girls should receive strap only on hand or if defiant, on the back.
The decision to punish should be between Head of department + teacher + discipline master. Right of appeal to headmaster who has power to increase or reduce punishment especially for *false complaint* (haha).
The board should also be able to expel disruptive students. Welfare are then informed. The child and his caregiver(s) should lose all government handouts ie dependent upon good behavior.
An empty stomach will sharpen their wits – quote from my grandmother O’Neill (1895-1982)
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 9:30 am
Teachers and schools will never get on top of this situation until there is an acceptance that there are some students who cannot or will not accept authority.
Vote:Look at the current drinking culture where 14 year olds are being apprehended rolling drunk. Sixty years ago those kids would have been home in bed, School behaviour has moved on from the acceptance by students of discipline to today where the kids refuse it and many parents stick their heads in the sand. Just listen to schoolyard language !!
So long as we allow these young scumbags to disrupt good teachers classrooms we will devalue education. The numbers of people wanting to teach will reduce.Look at the gender balance in the teaching profession.
One thing I believe is that I would like to see are more mature age teachers entering the profession. After having their families they see things slightly differently.There is often too small of an age gap between a young teacher and the student
Teaching is a great vocation but let’s protect the teachers.
I remember Ms Anne Collins MP,now Mrs Michael Cullen, advocating the abolition of CP, with her high minded help from the govt – hasn’t happened because it costs too much. Somebody identifies the problem, makes reassuring noises then puts that problem in the too hard basket.
Corporal Punishment will not return. What can we do ?
May 31st, 2010 at 9:34 am
seriously assaulted = verbally abused?
Pull another one, PPTA.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 9:43 am
But physical is what you (and some others) reduce it to, krazykiwi. You say no physical correction means no correction at all.
Your adding of qualifiers (such as may include) although also shows that you don’t quite believe it yourself.
While I agree with you on points that children should not be treated like adults and need to be shown limits and boundaries, physical violence is not a requisite for that. In fact it’s a very poor tool.
Violence in school runs much deeper that some simplistic formula as bring back physical punishment would make any sense at all.It’s nothing but lazy thinking and ideologically motivated. (And yes, I know, you will accuse me of the same)
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 10:00 am
At least two secondary teachers are seriously assaulted by pupils every school day, a union survey shows.
You’d think those two would realise they aren’t suited to the profession.
Still they are “teachers”.
I’m against bullies with canes/straps beating children into submission.
While it did us no real harm, it certainly did us no bloody good.
Much better to get the parents in and beat them until they discipline their brats properly.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 10:18 am
krazykiwi: We should never return to the days where sadistic teachers could beat kids – and that absolutely did happen.
That can simply be solved by not allowing teachers to strap, only the headmaster/principal, and parents are always informed beforehand (or after if they cannot be reached). So it takes out the immediate anger, and a detached person can deliver the correction.
It’s amazing how few straps kids need to get the message, and become productive pupils instead of distractions.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 10:18 am
I have every sympathy for the individual teacher,however the “education establishment ” has been to the fore of “social change ” in the west,so ,as the good book says “reap as you sow”.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 10:19 am
I suggest applying the adult justice system to instances of juveniles doing serious crimes.
It’s too late to worry about damaging the little dears by the time they are bringing weapons to school. If you’re big enough to carry a knife and attack someone with it, you’re big enough to stand trial. And you’re big enough for society to need protection from you.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 10:20 am
Violence is just one sympton disrespect and children disrupting classes are other problems. There should be a study on how long it takes for children to settle down in clasee before any teaching is possible. The state system in a lot of areas is unreformable.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 10:20 am
Swiftman the infidel, I agree.
And MT_Tinman, getting the parents in is another solution. The problem with that is that there might be a considerable amount of time between the offence and punishment. Hours sometimes. So where does the kid go in the mean time? And it turns all into a far greater drama then when the principal can deliver the short message straight-away.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 10:22 am
kowtow agreed.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 10:59 am
There is a magic wand, its made of cane.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 11:30 am
It’s not the least bit surprising,
Teachers today adopt the ‘positive parenting’ approach for discipline of students. They regularly threaten phone calls home, time out in another classroom, visits to the deputy principle’s office, etc.
But this is clearly not working for a number of students.
I’m surprised the Greens think it can work for the entire country.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 11:31 am
Why are you surprised Falu?
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 1:00 pm
I’ve said it before, and no doubt I’ll have to say it again:
LIMITS and CONSEQUENCES – we, as a society, have systematically removed both; firstly from schools, and now from the home.
As others have said, we have been doing this for 30+ years, so now we have both parents and their kids who have little concept of putting in place ‘limits’, and certainly no idea about meaningful ‘consequences’.
One only needs to watch such tripe as presented in TV’s ‘Super Nanny’, where parents are encouraged to reason with, let’s be honest, spoilt little brats; which if given one or two good smacks would be back on the right path. Discussing/reasoning should take place AFTER discipline has occcured, not before (except for minor infractions).
This isn’t rocket science! Most people over 40 know EXACTLY what is required to get most kids back on track.
To quote Anne Tolley: “while there was “no magic wand” to deal with violence in schools, the Government was taking it very seriously.”
Dead wrong, minister Tolley, there is a “magic wand”, the trouble is you idiots have removed ‘the wand’ from schools and the home, and without the ‘wand’ there will most certainly will be no ‘miracles’ occuring any time soon regarding violence against teachers!
87% of the people that took part in the referendum know what needs to be done – Why don’t Key and Tolley?
Vote:Bring back corporal punishment NOW!
May 31st, 2010 at 1:32 pm
KrisK@1.00pm: predictable response from the fundy “peaceloving” godbothering nutter
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Atheist1 at 1.32pm: predictable response from the fundy ‘peaceloving’ atheist nutter.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 2:09 pm
fishing’s great today
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Bawhahaha !…kids have rights remember..you cant touch ‘em…they’ll tell the cops on ya…you’ll be criminalised…
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Corporal punishment (or the lack thereof) does not create these children – poor parenting does. Admittedly lack of discipline at school – and poor quality teaching – do not help, but they only make the problem worse; they do not create the problem. The seeds are sown in the first few years at home – by parents and caregivers. If we want to lay blame then start there. Teachers are presented with poorly disciplined children – which are matched to poorly disciplined parents.
If my children are ill-disciplined at school it is a direct reflection on my parenting – not on the limited role of the school in raising my children.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 4:50 pm
In regard to parenting causing these problem kids, a personal development author, Larry Winget, wrote an article about bad parenting.
Ten Signs You’re A Bad Parent.
There are many signs that parents aren’t doing a good job as parents. All you have to do is look around at the millions of people living out the results of their own bad parenting to know that. Take a moment and look at these ten signs and evaluate how you are doing:
Ten Signs You Are A Bad Parent
1. If you don’t know where your child is right now, you are a bad parent.
2. If your child is obese, you are a bad parent.
3. If your child has a television in their bedroom, you are a bad parent.
4. If you don’t know your child’s friends, you are a bad parent.
5. If you tolerate disrespect from your child verbally or physically, you are a bad parent.
6. If you promise consequences for either good behavior or bad behavior and don’t deliver, you are a bad parent.
7. If you don’t teach your child about money, you are a bad parent.
8. If you don’t have open, honest communication with your child about sex; the dangers, consequences and joy of it, you are a bad parent.
9. If your grown child still lives at home and mooches off you,
you are a bad parent.
10. If your own life is an example of what you don’t want your child to grow up and become, you are a bad parent.
The full article can be seen here. http://larrywinget.net/blog/?p=259
As you can see he’s not a touchy feely personal development writer and brings up some interesting ideas.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 7:04 pm
no 10 does it for me.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 8:23 pm
Maybe you should watch Super Nanny more often, Kris K.
You can show LIMITS and CONSEQUENCES without a smack. I know, it’s a very disturbing concept for you as it’s not in the bible and it burdens your feeble little mind.
Take a chance and step out of the dark ages.
Vote:May 31st, 2010 at 8:42 pm
Now that Comrade Bradford has a tick in the corporal punishment box of her Marxist bingo game, she’s set to work on redefining other limits and consequences (ie “Go to your room”) as psychological violence. We can anticipate ‘time-out’ being vilified quite soon, and shortly declining to acquiesce to any demand will be interpreted as a breach of the child’s human rights.
Those who think this debate is about smacking or not have completely missed the boat. Liberal ideology, which has its origins in the social engineering extremism of Marx and Engels, is robbing generations of NZers of their dignity and self-respect. It is creating a new underclass of maladjusted and manifestly selfish individuals who don’t care for any constraints – self or externally applied, and who care even less for their fellow NZer. We must stop this.
Vote: