Edinburgh education: How violence in schools is seeing teachers scratched, bitten and having bones broken
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Alison Murphy, Edinburgh secretary of Scotland's biggest teachers' union, the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), said there was a crisis of violence in schools. which was disrupting education and impacting mental health.
And she quoted a comment made by one teacher, that if the violence children witnessed at school was happening at home, people would be contacting social services.


Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdMs Murphy was speaking at an "Any Education Questions?" public meeting at the Grassmarket Centre.
She said violence in schools affected large numbers of teachers, pupil support assistants (PSAs) and pupils.
“Many teachers feel when they raise it they are often made to feel to blame, that somehow if they were doing things differently this wouldn't happen.
“But what we do have in our schools without a shadow of a doubt is very large numbers of pupils who are acting out really distressed behaviours - and it's violence.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“And we are getting people who get broken bones, who are getting scratched, bitten, who are ending up in A&E. We've also got children who are being exposed to levels of violence because of this.
“And I still remember a quote we had when we did a survey a while ago, when a teacher said 'If a child at home was witnessing the level of violence that my kids are witnessing in their classrooms, we'd be calling social services’.


"And while it is not in every classroom, it is in far too many classrooms and we know it's disrupting education and it's having a massive impact on mental health and it’s having a massive impact on our ability to deliver a good education. And it is a crisis."
One teacher in the audience gave a graphic account of the situation: "We have got examples of - and this is primary school - teachers being hauled to the ground by the hair, teachers getting throttled by their scarves, young kids closing the door on the child who is causing the problem and pleading with the teacher not to let that child back into the classroom. We're facing that on a daily basis.”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdAnd she pleaded for action: “Don't just pay lip service to this, we need something done about it. And I think a lot of it has to be done with consequences.
“There are no consequences and a lot of children with behaviour are going away, they're getting something good and they're coming back with a smirk on their face and we, as teachers, have lost it in the classroom at that point because the rest of the children want that so they start acting up."
Another teacher said staff had to be confident that if they reported incidents there would be some action from the council.
He said: “I was rugby tackled by a student just before the summer holidays. I reported it through the council procedures and I heard nothing back - and that is not an uncommon occurrence.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad"Staff need to trust that when they report things they will receive support, the young person will receive support - and that’s not currently happening."
Gavin Yates, director of parents group Connect, told the meeting: “There is a link between young people who need extra support and are not getting that support and unfortunately we're seeing those young people getting incredibly distressed and then either other young people or teachers bearing the brunt of that.”
City council education convener Joan Griffiths said a working group had been set up to look at the issue. And she acknowledged the recording of incidents had to improve. "There are a lot of things happen in schools that don't get recorded and people see it as just something they have to put up with - and that is not right.”
And education director Amanda Hatton said: Amanda Hatton: “Children are behaving in particular ways because they're trying to tell us something.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“What's going on with these kids and why is it they're behaving like that? That's fundamentally what we need to get to the bottom of. And it will be a whole range of different things." She said as well as an education issue it had to be seen as a community issue.
A wide range of other issues were also raised at the meeting from i-pads being used to access inappropriate material to permanent contracts for teachers and recruitment of PSAs.
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.