Concern at rising school violence

MORE needs to be done to protect teachers amid rising violence in schools, says an MSP. Galloway and West Dumfries' Finlay Carson has warned there is now an epidemic of classroom violence across Scotland due to the SNP Government’s failure to tackle the issue. He said: “Schools should be safe and secure places to learn yet the horrifying incidents across Scotland tell a different story. “Children deserve to learn in environments free from violence and disruption and our teachers deserve to feel safe in their place of work. “Our schools must be given the resources they need to ensure there is always a zero tolerance approach to violence in our classrooms." He raised his concerns after his Scottish Conservative colleague Liam Kerr raised a topical question on classroom violence against teachers after an alarming 25 per cent rise in Aberdeen. Previously Scotland’s largest teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland, published findings, based on survey results from 875 schools, showing that 82 per cent of schools were reporting violent or aggressive incidents each week. Some 72 per cent said the amount of violence and aggression from pupils had grown in the last four years. Physical violence towards a teacher was the most common type of violence and aggression in primary and special education, while verbal abuse was the most common in secondary schools. Only 11 per cent of schools said teachers felt supported by their employer after pupil-on-teacher violence but 26 per cent of EIS teachers felt they were not backed.