A “conspiracy of silence” on violence in schools has allowed the problem to spiral out of control. MSP Willie Rennie claimed education bosses and government ministers are not prepared to admit the scale of the crisis.
He spoke out after a horrific video emerged of an attack on a schoolgirl in his constituency. He said the disturbing image of a young girl being kicked in the face would stay with him “forever”.
Footage of the brutal attack on the young pupil at Waid Academy in Anstruther, Fife, shows the girl lying on the floor trying to cover her head as she is repeatedly punched and kicked twice in the head.
Now Rennie, the Lib Dems’ Scottish education spokesman, has backed the Daily Record’s Our Kids... Our Future campaign, accusing politicians and education chiefs of ignoring the problem for too long.
Writing in today’s Daily Record, Rennie said: “The image of one young girl kicking another in her face will stay with me, probably forever.
“The level of violence in schools has always been higher than acceptable but it has been so much worse since the pandemic. Almost universally, staff report an increase in distressed behaviour since children have returned from months of lockdown.
“There does appear to be a conspiracy of silence and of under-reporting among the Scottish political and education leadership
who cannot admit the severity of the problems or that the current approach is just not working.”
Rennie backed our campaign for more resources to be put into community activities for young people.
He said: “I am a liberal and I believe in tackling the root causes of behaviour rather than simply punishing the symptoms, so I support inclusion and the restorative approach adopted in Scottish education.
“But that does not mean I will ever deny the problems exist.
“It would be a sign of a failed system if the only answer was increasing numbers of young people condemned to the criminal justice system, probably for life.”
Rennie claimed there is a need for investment in schools and community centres to give young people a sense of hope – but admitted “it can’t be done on the cheap”. The Daily Record has been reporting on the escalating violence among young people in recent months.
Angela Jarvis’ daughter Abbie was beaten unconscious in a Glasgow park while the attack was filmed by other girls.
The youngster was 12 when she was lured to a park in Drumchapel and assaulted by another girl while a group of youths filmed it on mobile phones then put the clip online as Abbie lay in hospital.
Last night, Angela echoed Rennie’s claims about the “conspiracy of silence”.
She said: “The silence is deafening. They can’t continue to stay quiet because it’s only going to get worse. They have to do something because it’s becoming an epidemic and ultimately, it will lead to deaths among kids.
“It’s in their faces yet they are choosing to brush it under the carpet. It can’t go on.”
Angela also welcomed Rennie’s demand for extra resources to help kids turn away from violence.
She said: “I’ve been sending my children to school for 18 years and I have never heard of specialist teachers to help children with learning difficulties.
“I always thought there were only special skills schools. Even with them, there are waiting lists of up to four years. It’s impossible to get in.”
After Abbie was attacked in October she was referred to CAMHS – Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services – for help but she is still waiting.
Angela said: “We were told to expect two years. It has got to the point now where she has self-healed and she doesn’t want the specialist work anymore.
“It’s not their fault – there’s not enough money going into these services to employ people to provide help. So they’re struggling and inundated.
“Between the lack of mental health help and school resources, it’s putting mass pressure on schools and teachers, who are supposed to be there for teaching.
“When there are up to 30 pupils in one class, how can a teacher recognise patterns of behaviour? How can they notice a child is being bullied?
“It also can’t just be for kids, parents also need help. There’s no support out there for mums and dads who are struggling because they don’t know how to address difficult behaviours.
“There are people who are failing at parenting because they haven’t got the knowledge to get over these challenges.
“There are parents out there that genuinely want to see their children thrive but they can’t because they don’t know how to address their needs.”
This month we launched the Our Kids... Our Future campaign.
We are making three key demands:
● The Scottish Government and local councils must ring-fence funding to make sure every community has a place for teenagers to go.
● Online tech giants must enforce fully their policies on tackling harmful content such as videos of young people attacking others.
● Everyone has a role to play so we’re asking Record readers to take the lead in your community to help local children feel cared for and included.
Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Violence is never acceptable and the safety of pupils and staff is paramount.
“We have produced guidance for local authorities and schools to promote positive relationships and manage behaviour and there are a number of programmes that they use to do this.
“We are providing over £2million to support delivery of prevention activity across Scotland this year.
“We will provide £145.5million in next year’s budget to protect increased teacher numbers and support staff.”
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