Violent and abusive pupil behaviour on the rise in schools

More than four in five (81 per cent) teachers feel the number of pupils exhibiting violent and abusive behaviours has increased, according to a poll by the NASUWT teaching union.

It comes as delegates at the NASUWT conference in Liverpool today (April 18) passed a motion which stated that the impact of the violent disturbances last summer “continues to impact school and college communities” and places their safety and security “at risk”.

The motion suggested that reports of “extreme pupil indiscipline” – including incidents involving knives and other weapons – were on the rise.

Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said teachers say mobile phones are “lethal weapons” which pupils are using at school to abuse others and disrupt lessons.

In a speech to the union’s annual conference in Liverpool, Mr Roach called for a plan to tackle the “national emergency”.

The NASUWT survey, of more than 5,800 members in the UK in January, suggested two in five (40 per cent) teachers have experienced physical abuse or violence from pupils in the last 12 months.

A fifth of respondents said they had experienced being hit or punched by pupils in the last year, while 38 per cent said they had been shoved or barged.

Around one in six said they had been kicked by pupils, while nine per cent said they had been spat at, according to the NASUWT poll.

One teacher who responded to the survey said: “I have had two children use a fire hydrant as a weapon. One at my head, another to my foot.”

Another said: “This morning I was told to, ‘go die, I hope you die.’”

Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: “Pupil behaviour has long been an issue for teachers, but recent years have seen an unprecedented surge in levels of violence and abuse in the classroom.

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“Based on our latest data, we estimate as many as 30,000 violent incidents against teachers involving pupils with a weapon in the last 12 months.

“Many teachers are having to think about how they can survive in the classroom before they can begin to focus on their teaching and pupils’ learning.

“We are calling for the establishment of a national inter-agency forum on school safety and security that is led and chaired by ministers.

“We are also calling on the Government to invest in properly funded services to identify and tackle the root causes of pupil violence and aggression.”