Children as young as three suspended for assault (12)

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spirifer
Posted by spirifer on Thu 6 Nov 08, 9:55 PM

More than 4,000 children aged five and younger were suspended from primary schools in England last year, government figures obtained by the Conservatives show.
Hundreds of three and four-year-olds were given suspensions for assaulting other children and teachers, according to the figures revealed in response to a parliamentary question from the shadow children's secretary, Michael Gove.
Nearly 2,500 children aged five or under were suspended for physical assault against other pupils or adults last year.
The instances of suspension for physical assault rose significantly between the ages of seven and 11. Some 13,480 children received fixed period exclusions in 2006-07.

What on earth is going on?

Story.

Edited Thu 6 Nov 08, 10:01 PM by spirifer

Replies

6 Nov 08, 10:18 PM
neptunescb6k
UK(DE), 6 mths Negative parenting skills, knowledge free education let parents down.No values passed down to the children etc.... Also analysis of background required as certain groups engender tribal behavoir towards other sectors of human life hence town knife crimes defending so called turfs/
What the hell is a child under 5 doing in any type of school when it should be with its mother ?

6 Nov 08, 10:21 PM
Suadela
UK(M), 13 mths
A sense of reality is needed here by schools i think. The difference between bullying which should not be tolerated and every day 'Boy's will be Boy's' behaviour needs to be identified. Its natural that children are going to have rough and tumble play and yes ocationaly accidents happen and some times people get hurt as a result.
But to go as far as to starting to susspend children for things like this is a bit to far. As that is the only reason i can see for the number's jumping up so high so fast. I really dont think that society has goten that more violent in such a short time.
As much as we like we cant have children living in protective bubbles all there lifes its just not practiacal.
Some people say i am evil, i have no idea why they think that.

6 Nov 08, 10:30 PM
RedRobyn
UK(G), 4 mths
Parents nowadays expect teachers to raise their children (wide statement I know) they come to school with no social skills at all. Something needs to be done - at the moment it is only a few in the class if it continues it will be lots more. I really worry about the future generations.

6 Nov 08, 10:36 PM
subdg
UK(DL), 5 yrs I also read this and recoiled in horror for a moment earlier today. Then I thought back to my own primary school days (and I'm only 26), remembering instances when kids were unruly- If you tried to whack a teacher, you got a whack back, then a letter home. If you had a fight with another pupil you were both hauled before the headmaster and made to settle your differences there and then.
I can't help but feel the (sometimes near literal) hand-tying of teachers has contributed to this statistic; If they're left without reasonable stop-gaps as intermediary measures, then I think it can be assumed that suspension (or in some cases, police involvement) will be their first action?
I've no doubt some think-tank somewhere will somehow claim that declining moral standards / immigrants / global warming are to blame for it though!
Life is like a game of poker: Sometimes you've just got to make the best of a bad hand.

6 Nov 08, 10:53 PM
DarkLordDredd
UK(NG), 6 yrs
Y!
I can remember load of punch-ups at school, even in the infants. Assaults, more likely good old fashioned rows which spill over into a few crap punches being thrown between two friends normally, followed by getting a bollocking from teacher and lots of tears and sorrys.]
It seems that normal childhood behaviour and reactions are being treated far too severly and given farrrr too much attention. Isn't it about time we let children be children and stop interferring?
Never ever accused of knowingly ever doing anything nice!

7 Nov 08, 12:59 AM
harry_lon
UK, 3 yrs

These tinies aren't 'at school' in any meaningful sense of the word despite the ridiculous 'targets' that are imposed on them: they're at an age when they should still be throwing playdough at each other in playgroups and *learning* socialisation skills. Too often they're put in semi-structured environments far too early and just don't have the tools to handle it.
Parents can be pressured to commit their toddlers to a school's own pre-school arragements as an implied condition of getting a place at 5 irrespective of the child's readiness for it. It's a funding issue again. The parents may be blissfully unaware that the staff-child ratio can be far worse than at the playgroup they take them out of
I'll never regret this, ...although I may rue and lament it

7 Nov 08, 7:11 AM
Proccie
UK(HP), 2 yrs

LittleMissEvil wrote:
A sense of reality is needed here by schools i think. The difference between bullying which should not be tolerated and every day 'Boy's will be Boy's' behaviour needs to be identified. Its natural that children are going to have rough and tumble play and yes occasional accidents happen and some times people get hurt as a result.
But to go as far as to starting to suspend children for things like this is a bit to far. As that is the only reason I can see for the number's jumping up so high so fast. I really don't think that society has gotten that more violent in such a short time.
As much as we like we cant have children living in protective bubbles all there lives its just not practical.
Teachers aren't thick you know. And the numbers haven't increased, the way the suspensions are recorded has. In the past a head teacher could have "suggested" that someone spend some time away from school to have a period of quite reflection away from other pupils. Now that has to be recorded as an official suspension.
"Every child matters" yep that's the name of the new government policy on this, means that it is increasingly difficult to exclude a pupil quickly and move them to a more appropriate environment for their continued education.
Every child matters, including the 25 odd other pupils in the class who have their education disrupted by a small minority who have needs that quite frankly can't be met in a mainstream school.
So schools wait, they create a dossier of evidence of the pupil's anti-social behaviour, they jump through the hoops and when the school has enough evidence, the pupil is excluded. But believe me that process takes 18 months to two years, during which time the parents have ample enough warning that the process is in place.
Teachers cannot do the work of parents. A teacher has 25 to 30 other charges to look after. I call it social Dawinism: Your neglected child too anti social for school? Well hard luck and tough kiddo welcome to the real world.
Those children brought up to respect their elders who can get something from the modern curriculum will do well in life, others wont.
Don't blame the teacher.
Don
Zen S&M: The sound of one hand smacking.
Edited 7 Nov 08, 5:23 PM by Proccie

7 Nov 08, 7:25 AM
MisterBear
UK(WA), 5 yrs

LittleMissEvil wrote:
As that is the only reason i can see for the number's jumping up so high so fast.
How about the closure of special needs schools where children like this would have gone. But the government wanted to save money and closed the schools under the guise that some special needs children improved when in an environment with non-special needs children. However the government were probably looking at the those with disabilities who would get on well in the average school, but disruptive and violent children got thrown in as well. So the numbers haven't risen fast, they've just been put into places where they can become more noticeable.
I hide the truth.
I hide it out there in the open where anyone can see it.

7 Nov 08, 10:07 AM
GoddessSharonShiney
UK, 14 mths
I will add my 2p worth here.....Sometimes kids that are bullied are helpless when reporting an incident...My son was bullied for a few years the school were doing nothing to stop it as they did not see it happening!! I told my son to hit back...he did...he got caught....he was suspended for hitting!! The reasons as to why never matter as hitting is wrong...Maybe I was wrong telling him to do so...But guess what...He is no longer bullied.But yes some kids are unruly & make other kids lives hell.Bring discipline back in schools as the teachers need it.Class sizes are far too high...32 pupils per 1 teacher.

7 Nov 08, 12:21 PM
Nemi75
UK, 12 mths

Proccie wrote:
Such good sense I feel it appropriate to give him a round of applause.

Every Child Matters, despite the motive behind it being admirable, has turned into a charter by which the badly behaved can get away with murder while the well behaved majority either suffer in silence or are gradually brought down to their level. Try and see it from kid logic viewpoint; 'Well, Johnny Charver is getting away with it and sometimes getting rewards and attention, why should I miss out on the fun by sitting here quietly and tring to learn?'.
Once teachers stop having to do the job of parents and people actually have to live with the consequences of their actions (poor behaviour or poor parenting) then we might see some change. If you hold people to high standards and demonstrate that they are not simply desired, but required things may change for the better. It's not a teachers job to fix society, teachers teach, and at the moment they are so caught up in paperwork/riot control that they can't.
One of God's own prototypes, a high powered mutant of some kind, never considered for mass production. Too weird to live, too rare to die.

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