❓ Hon Robin Scott questions the effectiveness of the government's action plans on school violence, while Hon Sue Ellery acknowledges the issue, highlights increased reporting due to government support, and emphasises community responsibility.
AnsweredQoN 1235Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
SCHOOL VIOLENCE
1235. Hon ROBIN SCOTT to the Minister for Education and
Training:
The increasing number of incidents
of violence in our schools suggests that this government's track record
on school violence is poor.
(1) Does the
minister concede that the government's 2018 action plan, named ''Let's
Take a Stand Together'', has been a failure?
(2) Does the
minister concede that the government's 2019 action plan, named ''No
Voice to Violence'', has also been a failure?
(3) What is the next catchy title
for the government's action plan for school violence?
1235. Hon ROBIN SCOTT to the Minister for Education and
Training:
The increasing number of incidents
of violence in our schools suggests that this government's track record
on school violence is poor.
(1) Does the
minister concede that the government's 2018 action plan, named ''Let's
Take a Stand Together'', has been a failure?
(2) Does the
minister concede that the government's 2019 action plan, named ''No
Voice to Violence'', has also been a failure?
(3) What is the next catchy title
for the government's action plan for school violence?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3) I
thank the honourable member for the question. It is disappointing that the
member added his third kind of flippant question about something that is a very
serious issue in our schools.
Hon Robin Scott interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order!
Hon SUE ELLERY : Violence is a
problem for us all across the community. When we see violence in our suburbs
and in our towns, and violence in some of the homes that these children are
growing up in, we will see that violence reflected in our schools.
We have put in place—working
with all the stakeholders, including parents, the professional organisations
and the unions—a series of measures to make sure that staff feel backed
up to report violence. That was previously going unreported, because staff, the
professional associations and the unions reported that staff did not feel that
they were being backed by the department to report the kind of violence that
they were seeing in schools. We have backed them up in reporting that. I said
at the time that we announced this plan in 2018 that I would expect to see
increases in reporting, suspensions and exclusions, and that is exactly what we
have seen.
We all, as a community, have a responsibility
to tackle the violence that we are seeing in our community and in our schools.
Can we do more to address it? Yes, we can. But I want to know why a 12-year-old
is going to school with a knife or with a replica gun. What else is going on in
our community that sees those children act in that way? I have given the
example in this place before of a fight that broke out at a school in the
southern suburbs, on a bus. The students were punished. One of the parents did
not like the punishment that was issued to his son, so he turned up at the school the next day with a gidgee. If
that is the type of home that kid is growing up in, it is no wonder that we see that kind of violence in our schools. We all have a responsibility to
fix this across the board.
thank the honourable member for the question. It is disappointing that the
member added his third kind of flippant question about something that is a very
serious issue in our schools.
Hon Robin Scott interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order!
Hon SUE ELLERY : Violence is a
problem for us all across the community. When we see violence in our suburbs
and in our towns, and violence in some of the homes that these children are
growing up in, we will see that violence reflected in our schools.
We have put in place—working
with all the stakeholders, including parents, the professional organisations
and the unions—a series of measures to make sure that staff feel backed
up to report violence. That was previously going unreported, because staff, the
professional associations and the unions reported that staff did not feel that
they were being backed by the department to report the kind of violence that
they were seeing in schools. We have backed them up in reporting that. I said
at the time that we announced this plan in 2018 that I would expect to see
increases in reporting, suspensions and exclusions, and that is exactly what we
have seen.
We all, as a community, have a responsibility
to tackle the violence that we are seeing in our community and in our schools.
Can we do more to address it? Yes, we can. But I want to know why a 12-year-old
is going to school with a knife or with a replica gun. What else is going on in
our community that sees those children act in that way? I have given the
example in this place before of a fight that broke out at a school in the
southern suburbs, on a bus. The students were punished. One of the parents did
not like the punishment that was issued to his son, so he turned up at the school the next day with a gidgee. If
that is the type of home that kid is growing up in, it is no wonder that we see that kind of violence in our schools. We all have a responsibility to
fix this across the board.
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