Thursday, 2 November 2023

School violence

Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (17:49): (579) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education. It seems clear that the government’s current approach and policy are not stopping the increase in youth violence in our schools. According to the annual report of the Commission for Children and Young People, tabled in Parliament yesterday, violence in schools is going up. In the year 2021 there were 197 reportable allegations of violence in schools. In the year 2022 this went up to 261, and in the year 2023 the figure jumped to 325. The action I seek is for the minister to consult with principals and develop a strategy to tackle violence in schools.

In August this year video footage of a physical confrontation between students and teachers went viral in social media. This happened inside a school in my constituency. This is not an isolated incident. It is part of a growing trend of bad behaviour and physical violence in schools. A recent report revealed over 100 fight club videos have been posted on social media alone in the past six months. Teachers, parents and students want a solution to this problem. Every child has the right to feel safe at school. Every teacher has the right to feel safe at their workplace. This is not the problem of a particular school or individual behaviour but a matter of government policy that dictates how schools respond to bad behaviour. Victorian teachers are dedicated and hardworking, but many feel they have to leave because working conditions are getting so bad. They need more help to deal with difficult students. Government policy must support principals to implement prevention strategies and to take appropriate action towards bad behaviour when it happens so that teachers and students can feel safe, so I call on the minister to take school violence seriously and develop a new strategy to help schools prevent violence and create a safe environment for everyone.