Commenting on an FOI analysis by the Press Association showing
the numbers of police seizures of weapons on school
premises,Kevin Courtney, Joint
General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“It’s important to acknowledge two realities at the same time -
that most classrooms are very safe, and the large majority of
schools have very effective behaviour policies, but that for some
students, knives, other weapons and the fear of violence are part
of their daily lives. This is not acceptable for those young
people and there is much more we must do across the public
services.
“Schools form just one part of a multi-agency approach to
reducing youth crime and the exposure of young people to
violence, and those agencies all need support. Police forces need
enough capacity to support schools through Safer School
Partnerships. We also need early intervention approaches which
can only be achieved through collaboration between social
workers, youth workers, and pastoral leads in schools.
“Cutting and radically reducing the scope of the youth service
and their presence in local communities was really short sighted,
and makes it harder to get the response right. Youth work is
based on a model of empowerment, education and equal opportunity
for young people, which is why it is so vital. Both the education
and youth work services need to be flexible enough to respond to
the individual needs of young people who are affected by criminal
activity or social exclusion. Current government approaches to
the curriculum and to tests and qualifications do not enable this
- it is leading too many young people to feel like failures, in
school, with hugely negative consequences.
“We must also sound a warning signal about the rising levels of
child poverty, about which the Government is simply in denial,
even when challenged by the UN. Poverty affects young people’s
self-esteem, their hope for the future and their access to
opportunities that can widen horizons. Cutting services like Sure
Start, youth centres, community centres and libraries directly
removes the ability of communities to support local children and
young people.
“A cross department Government strategy to ending child poverty
and doing more to tackle racism needs to be part of the solutions
we seek, when we analyse why some students are bringing weapons
to school.”
