Snapshot of violence in NSW schools
Snapshot of violence in NSW schools
FIRST ON 7: The classroom is usually considered a safe place, but an increasing number of teachers are now becoming the victims of violence from students they're trying to help.
7News has obtained a report revealing staff have been punched, kicked, and even threatened with weapons at schools across the state.
"I was king-hit", says the high school teacher sacked after restraining a student who punched him in the head.
"King-hits have been shown to kill people, we've also got weapons occurring in schools. These are life-threatening things," Stephen Krix told 7News.
But his experience is just part of a catalogue of violence in schools.
"Unfortunately many teachers live in fear of losing their jobs if they take a proactive stance on violence, as can be seen in my case."
A new education department report is shocking. In semester one last year, there were hundreds of cases involving assaults, drugs and weapons.
Ninety incidents were reported in the The Hunter and Central Coast region, while western Sydney had 79, and the department was notified of 56 incidents in South Western Sydney.
"As a former teacher, what was alarming to me was the number of serious assaults," Ryan Park
said.
In many cases, the school principals and deputy principals bore the brunt of the violence.
"I'm very worried that there is an increase in school violence," Park said. "I'm worried for teachers who have to attend schools each and every day."
In a Granville school, a student brandished a fence paling with protruding nails and cornered the principal and his deputy, who were forced to run from the scene.
A student in Liverpool smashed windows before punching and kicking the principal and deputy, and at a Central Coast school a principal was punched in the nose by a student who was smashing cars.
But principals say Australian schools are safer than foreign counterparts and do not require heightened US style security.
"We certainly wouldn't want to schools to look like mini-remand centres," Public Schools Principals Forum Cheryl McBride told 7News.
