Parents' threat to take school children out on strike is a wake-up call for SNP government
The level of violence in Scottish schools has been a persistent concern since children returned to classes following the Covid lockdowns
Desperate messages sent by parents, pupils and teachers to Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth give a terrifying insight into the level of violence in Scotland’s schools.
On average, Gilruth was contacted nearly once a week during her first year in the job about school violence. One parent told her that she and others were “terrified” every day about what might happen to their child following a “massive increase in violent, abusive, and disruptive behaviours”. “If nothing is done to help it become a safer environment, I intend to organise a strike for our children. It seems this is the only way anyone will sit up and pay attention,” the parent wrote.
Concern about school violence is not new. Last year, Andrea Bradley, of the EIS teaching union, spoke of an “increase in violent incidents and distressed behaviour” and complained the government wasn’t listening to teachers. In 2022, Mike Corbett, of the NASUWT union, highlighted “serious disruptive and often violent behaviour” by children since the Covid lockdowns. And he complained it was "as if they [the Scottish Government] don't really want to know it's a problem".
However, it would be wrong to entirely blame the Scottish Government for the situation. The behaviour of too many children has changed for the worse since Covid struck and it is unrealistic to expect ministers to sort things out by themselves.
This is a failure of parenting, at least as much as a failure of government. In fact, it is on such a scale that a whole-society response will likely be necessary.
The job of ministers, in such a situation, is to first properly understand the causes of the problem and then lead efforts to address it. Given the SNP government’s stumbles over fairly straightforward policy decisions, we are not particularly optimistic – complaints over a lack of action have a familiar ring.
Gilruth now needs to show that she is on top of the problems and committed to tackling them. Education is the foundation of our economy and society, if the next generation is under-educated and prone to violence, we will soon be in real trouble.