❓ Mr. Staltari questions the Minister for Education about a panic button app for teachers and the government's response to school violence. The Minister responds by highlighting existing measures and commending a colleague's collaborative approach.
AnsweredQoN 38Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Department of Education—School violence
38. Mr Liam Staltari to the Minister for Education :
I refer to recent
media coverage that reported that staff in schools are being urged to carry
their mobile phones everywhere with them on site, with a panic button app
installed that enables them to call for help from nearby staff if they feel
threatened.
(1) Has this panic button app been rolled out by
the Department of Education?
(2) How many times will our teachers need to push the
panic button before this government acts to address this crisis of violence in
our schools?
38. Mr Liam Staltari to the Minister for Education :
I refer to recent
media coverage that reported that staff in schools are being urged to carry
their mobile phones everywhere with them on site, with a panic button app
installed that enables them to call for help from nearby staff if they feel
threatened.
(1) Has this panic button app been rolled out by
the Department of Education?
(2) How many times will our teachers need to push the
panic button before this government acts to address this crisis of violence in
our schools?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for the
question and I will try to be brief, as I think I gave a pretty fulsome
response on school violence yesterday. Can I put on the record again that any
incident of violence is a concern to me. As Minister for Education, I am keen
to continue the strong work that our government has done over a significant
period of time on violence in schools. We have delivered the strongest measures
in Western Australia's history to address violence in schools. We have
strengthened the consequences for violent students through our revised 10-point
action plan Standing together against violence ,
which now requires principals to suspend students or expel students who
instigate violence in our schools.
It is critically important that
we back our schools. There has been quite a bit of media coverage in recent
times around violence in schools, and I just want to explain for members how a
member of Parliament in this place is addressing some of the issues within her local
schools. Of course, I refer to Michelle Maynard, the new member for Swan Hills.
I commend her approach to tackling what are complex and sensitive issues within the schools in her electorate. She has
been behind the desk for barely weeks and she has reached out and
coordinated a roundtable meeting with school leaders, police and other
community members, including in her community, to listen to and address the
real concerns—I acknowledge they are real concerns—of parents
and students in her schools. I value that approach, because addressing violence
in our schools and our communities is a complex issue that requires commitment
by our leaders to address and come up with solutions to support students and
schools.
I want teachers and principals
to know that the Cook Labor government remains committed to keeping our schools
safe. As a schoolteacher of 27 years, I know more than anyone in this place the
importance of a safe and nurturing environment for children and parents, and I
am committed to continuing to support not only the Department of Education, but
also our children, our parents and our communities to make sure that that is
what they get.
question and I will try to be brief, as I think I gave a pretty fulsome
response on school violence yesterday. Can I put on the record again that any
incident of violence is a concern to me. As Minister for Education, I am keen
to continue the strong work that our government has done over a significant
period of time on violence in schools. We have delivered the strongest measures
in Western Australia's history to address violence in schools. We have
strengthened the consequences for violent students through our revised 10-point
action plan Standing together against violence ,
which now requires principals to suspend students or expel students who
instigate violence in our schools.
It is critically important that
we back our schools. There has been quite a bit of media coverage in recent
times around violence in schools, and I just want to explain for members how a
member of Parliament in this place is addressing some of the issues within her local
schools. Of course, I refer to Michelle Maynard, the new member for Swan Hills.
I commend her approach to tackling what are complex and sensitive issues within the schools in her electorate. She has
been behind the desk for barely weeks and she has reached out and
coordinated a roundtable meeting with school leaders, police and other
community members, including in her community, to listen to and address the
real concerns—I acknowledge they are real concerns—of parents
and students in her schools. I value that approach, because addressing violence
in our schools and our communities is a complex issue that requires commitment
by our leaders to address and come up with solutions to support students and
schools.
I want teachers and principals
to know that the Cook Labor government remains committed to keeping our schools
safe. As a schoolteacher of 27 years, I know more than anyone in this place the
importance of a safe and nurturing environment for children and parents, and I
am committed to continuing to support not only the Department of Education, but
also our children, our parents and our communities to make sure that that is
what they get.
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