Police tackle thousands of violent incidents in schools
Charlotte Goddard
Monday, December 22, 2008
Police officers have been called into schools in England to deal with violence more than 7,000 times in the last year, according to figures obtained by the Conservative Party.
Figures were obtained from 25 of 39 English police forces.
Shadow Children's Secretary Michael Gove said: "There will always be the odd occasion when teachers need to call on the police for support with a serious incident but at the moment they do not have sufficient powers to nip discipline problems in the bud."
Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "While Michael Gove's initial reading of the figures could look worrying, he should dig deeper into the reasons why schools phone the police. An important reason is that police/school liaison has improved tremendously since the problems with security experienced by schools a decade ago."
She added: "Schools are still one of the safest places for many children."
Martin Johnson, deputy general secretary at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said: "It is important not to forget that a minority of children are violent, but we are not surprised by the police figures - they reflect what teachers are telling us about what's going on in schools on a daily basis."
He said ATL research showed 29 per cent of teachers have faced physical aggression from a pupil, and 68 per cent said pupil behaviour was worse than two years ago.
