Tories to bring debate on school violence

The Scottish Tories have accused the Government of being “too worried about looking good” rather than dealing with disruptive pupils ahead of a Holyrood debate on school violence.

Teacher bodies have raised concerns about increasing levels of poor behaviour in schools since the pandemic, with the EIS – Scotland’s biggest teaching union – saying some have been left with broken bones and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result.

The Tories will use one of its opposition debating slots to call for the Government to give teachers a method to “effectively” deal with disruptive students and roll out a mobile phone ban.

“Violence is out of control in Scotland’s classrooms,” said Tory education spokesman Miles Briggs ahead of the debate.

“Last year, a physical or verbal assault took place every two minutes of the school day.

“Yet we are still only hearing warm words from SNP ministers. Teachers are having to do their job with one hand tied behind their backs because they simply haven’t been empowered to take action against disruptive pupils.

“The SNP are too worried about looking good rather than punishing those responsible for violence and threats. Many teachers, pupils and other staff now fear going to school each day, which is a position we should never have reached.

“Our debate will urge the SNP to finally bring some common sense back to Scottish schools. That starts by dealing effectively with disruptive pupils, empowering teachers and rolling out a mobile phone ban across classrooms.

“Schools must be a safe place for pupils to learn and teachers to teach. That simply isn’t the case right now and will only get worse if SNP ministers don’t get a grip of this situation.”

Regulatory responsibility around online content lies with the UK Government; however, ministers have emphasised the need for UK legislation to deliver effective and improved safeguards for children and young people online

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Violence and abusive behaviour towards pupils or staff is completely unacceptable.

“All local authorities should ensure that schools have policies in place which determine clearly what action should be taken to address challenging behaviour and bullying.

“Last year, the Scottish Government published a joint action plan with Cosla (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) setting out a range of actions that will be taken at a national and local level over the next three years to respond to concerns about relationships and behaviour in schools, including violence, along with guidance on mobile phones in schools, which supports any headteacher who decides to institute a ban on mobile phones in their school.

“Regulatory responsibility around online content lies with the UK Government; however, ministers have emphasised the need for UK legislation to deliver effective and improved safeguards for children and young people online.”