Pragmatic approach required
I think everyone has been shocked by the data released relating to the level of violence in our local schools.
To see such levels, particularly in primary schools, has truly been an eye-opener for everyone in our community, and it shines a light on a major challenge faced daily by our students, teachers and staff involved in education provision throughout our islands.
The classroom is supposed to be a safe place, a place of discovery, of growth and the shared sense of community. Sadly, right now, for many students, teachers and staff, that space has become a source of anxiety and fear.
We cannot achieve educational excellence if we fail to guarantee basic physical safety within our schools. Every student deserves a safe environment to learn, and every teacher and member of staff deserves a workplace free from the fear of physical or verbal abuse. Treating this level of aggression within our schools as a new, unavoidable normal occurrence is a disservice to our students, teachers and staff. We furthermore cannot hope to solve our ongoing teacher shortages if we continue asking educators to work in conditions where physical and verbal abuse go unchecked.
We do, however, have to go through this on a case-by-case basis. Every situation is different and each person is unique. In some instances, disciplinary action will not only be warranted, but required. Again, however, not every situation is the same.
We must not just look at this as the educational crisis it is, but also as a health crisis that demands a swift and balanced response.
When primary schools alone account for over four hundred of the recorded instances, it is a stark reminder that our education system is facing an unprecedented behavioural crisis.
Now, there will be those who see this crisis and offer us false options. Some will argue for a purely punitive approach, one that treats students as problems that need to be managed rather than human beings to be guided. Others may downplay these instances, ignoring the very real injuries and trauma being inflicted upon our students, teachers and other staff. Progress, though, does not happen by choosing between accountability and empathy – we must embrace both.
A pragmatic approach requires us to look at this as an urgent infrastructure, discipline and public health challenge. We must treat it both as a firm safety issue and a serious mental health priority.
Ensuring the absolute safety of students, teachers and other staff must be an immediate and non-negotiable priority. Learning cannot occur in an environment where students and educators are at risk or classrooms are continuously being disrupted. While we must understand the underlying causes of these behavioural issues, we cannot allow empathy for struggling students to compromise the safety of the school communities. There must be swift, clear and consistent consequences for violent behaviour to maintain order and protect everyone in the buildings.
At the same time, accountability should go hand-in-hand with smart investments. Again, a pragmatic approach requires us to equip our schools with the tools they need to prevent these instances before they occur. This means targeted funding to assist in the handling of disciplinary actions such as temporary removal from classrooms, suspensions or expulsions if required, while simultaneously expanding access to mental health professionals and services. By combining firm disciplinary standards with practical and proactive support systems, we can restore safety and respect to our classrooms without resorting to ideological extremes.
Our teachers are trained to teach history, maths and science – they should not be forced to act as full-time crisis counsellors or security guards.
The data we are seeing underscores the urgent need to address the root causes of behavioural disruption in our schools. By investing heavily in mental health resources and better-equipped guidance counsellors, we can begin to form a robust supportive infrastructure within our education system. While we must ensure a safe environment for every student, teacher and member of staff, our focus should be on providing schools with the funding they need to support struggling youth, rather than relying strictly on disciplinary measures that pull students out and away from education.
Disciplinary action though, if required, where possible, must be paired with rehabilitation-focused counselling before a student is permitted to return to the general population.
For students facing or experiencing a severe emotional crisis, we must be able to provide decompression spaces and specialised alternative learning programs. These alternative settings would be able to provide the intensive, small group or solo educational and behavioural coaching and support these children need without disrupting the education of their peers.
We could also implement practical safeguards to aid in de-escalating the classroom environment and improve focus. Accelerating initiatives, like a structured, school-wide restriction on personal mobile phones, is a low-cost, high-impact tool. Currently, students are being bombarded by a never-ending cycle of digital drama, ambient anxiety and cyberbullying that follows them into the hallways and boils over into physical violence during the school day. Taking those distractions out of the classroom is a simple and practical way to give students their focus back.
By investing in our youth, fully funding our schools and treating behavioural issues as a public health and mental health priority, we can foster communities of safety, belonging and academic success for every child.
Danny C. Parker
Delting
