ALARMING new figures have revealed thousands of students are being suspended and expelled each year for violent and anti-social behaviour in Far Northern schools.

The Cairns Post has obtained official Education Queensland statistics that reveal the extent of physical and verbal attacks, including schoolyard assaults and bullying, at both primary and secondary schools.

They also show hundreds of kids have also been suspended in the past two years for using illicit drugs and other banned substances.

The release of the figures comes after The Cairns Post revealed students at Malanda State High School filmed 13-year-old student Jairus Doolan being repeatedly punched and kicked and posted it on the internet.

The boy’s mother, Fely, allowed The Cairns Post to publish images from the fight  and to host the video on cairns.com.au because she wanted people to see the extent of bullying at the school.

The State Opposition has described the figures as alarming, however, Education Minister Rod Welford and the teachers’ union say they reflect a crackdown on bad behaviour in schools.

Queensland Liberal leader Mark McArdle said the statistics raised serious concerns about the trend towards violent, anti-social and destructive behaviour in Far Northern schools.

“These offences are criminal in some cases,” he said.

“Schools cannot become a breeding ground for aggressive, anti-social and even criminal behaviour.

“There needs to be less excuses and more action from the Education Minister to ensure the safety of students in Queensland schools.”

The State School Student Disciplinary Absences statistics for the 2005-06 and 2006-07 years reveal that almost 2000 students were suspended for physical misconduct.

Another 1723 were handed suspensions for verbal and non-verbal misconduct while more than 1000 students were suspended for persistently disruptive behaviour.

More than 500 kids were suspended for using illicit drugs, smoking cigarettes and using other substances banned at schools, such as alcohol.

The figures were not broken down into age groups.

Education Minister Rod Welford said the statistics were not indicative of an increase in bad behaviour at schools but reflected the success of the Code of School Behaviour, which came into effect last year.

He said it outlined the behaviour standards expected of students and responsibilities of parents and schools and schools were taking disciplinary actions against students breaching the code.

“While the figures in some schools show they have had a rise in behaviour problems, the overall number of suspensions have declined over the last few years,” he said.

“The introduction of the code is seeing schools take a more active role in managing discipline.

“I am not overly concerned at this stage.”

The Queensland Teachers Union yesterday threw its support behind the State Government.

President Steve Ryan said behaviour management was a issue for members and schools were taking it seriously.

“These figures show that behaviour management is being taken seriously and students who offend are dealt with through the school’s code of behaviour,” he said.

 

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