Report veils junior school violence
By JOHN HARTEVELT — The Press — 06 August 2008
A Ministry of Education report trumpeting a fall in school suspensions has overlooked a 37 per cent surge in primary school disciplinary actions.
The ministry's student engagement report last month highlighted a 25 per cent drop in the number of secondary school students suspended since 2000, an eight-year low. However, the primary school figures were buried in a graph with no raw numbers and no commentary.
In fact, the number of primary school children stood down and suspended has grown from 4800 in 2000 to 6595 last year. In 2007, 945 primary school students were suspended and 5650 stood down 28 per cent of the total number of students at all levels stood down in that year. Educators say those numbers reflect an ongoing trend for increasingly violent misbehaviour by children as young as five.
Minister of Education Chris Carter released the ministry report heralding a "concerted effort by schools supported by the ministry". Family First national director Bob McCoskrie, who pursued the ministry over the data, said he could not believe the report did not even touch on a nationwide problem.
"We need to be asking ourselves some pretty tough questions about why almost 1000 kids are being chucked out of primary schools for behaviour that is just so bad that schools have got to the point where they won't even work with it," McCoskrie said.
New Zealand Educational Institute president Frances Nelson said that on the surface of the data it was accurate that disciplinary measures were falling overall.
"But it's when you look deeper into those statistics and you start to tease them out that you get a different kind of view of the world," Nelson said. "And that view of the world fits with what we are experiencing in schools, which is much more difficult scenarios all of the time."
The Ministry of Education was giving attention to secondary schools at the expense of the lower levels, Nelson said. "If you want to stop this behaviour, you have to stop it as young as you possibly can." Canterbury Primary Principals' Association president David Taylor said there was a growing issue with extreme misbehaviour by students who were getting ever younger.
Denise Torrey, from Christchurch's Ka Mahuri, a remedial school for troubled primary-age children, said the story behind the figures was clear. "What it says is that we are seeing an increasing number of younger and younger students with behaviour and mental health issues," she said. "Things are happening earlier. We're seeing children as young as five and six who are exhibiting dangerous behaviour."
There were instances of children using weapons to inflict violence upon themselves, other students and teachers. "There are kids out there who can't see a way forward, as young as five and six, but they would be rare," Torrey said. "Anything is a weapon. A stick out in the playground can be a weapon or a cricket wicket or a softball bat can be a weapon."
Ministry of Education senior manager of schools and student support, Jim Greening, said the report was designed to present a wide view of stand-downs and suspensions nationwide. "The report is a high-level summary report looking at general trends with suspensions and stand-downs," he said. "The ministry endeavours to present data as accurately and effectively as possible for a wide audience."