Anderson High School. Photo: John CouttsFamilies are moving away to protect their children from violence in schools, a former parent council member has revealed.This comes after a social media post sparked concern and debate over the safety of pupils in Anderson High School.The post said a child had been attacked in a toilet at the school.Another commented saying their child had to be taken to accident and emergency after an incident.Amanda Hawick, a Lerwick community councillor and former parent council member, said she was “vexed” that violent acts in schools were still taking place despite previously raising concerns. Ms Hawick said during her time at the parent council, people had raised concerns about their children’s safety.Eight of those parents were concerned as their bairns had showed signs of self-harming and had considered suicide, she said. “One person said it was so bad they sold up and moved south,” Ms Hawick added.She said there was “something seriously bad” going on that needed to be addressed.Ms Hawick said the buck stopped with the parents. She questioned how society could change without realising that certain behaviours were “unacceptable”.“Families are moving here and once they figure out this system, they’re like: ‘right, we’ll leave’,” Ms Hawick said.“We’re a small community but we have bigger problems.“It’s time for radical change. We have to embrace moving forward with the rest of the world.” Ms Hawick said the council’s education department had a “responsibility” to ensure that pupils were given the right to an education.However, in some cases “that’s not happening” because of the fear pupils have of attending school and the potential violence or bullying.Ms Hawick added: “I’m really vexed to learn this is still going on. You would have thought this would be nipped in the bud.”List MSP Morven-May MacCallum said she was “deeply” concerned by the recurrence of incidents in schools. The Liberal Democrat said this should send alarm bells ringing to the Scottish government.“All of this is having a real impact on pupils, parents and teachers who feel like they are facing an uphill struggle,” Ms MacCallum said.“Nobody should feel unsafe in school, it’s time the Scottish parliament united behind efforts to put a stop to this.”She said that the government continued to “sit on its hands” while the Liberal Democrats had laid out plans to recruit 2,000 new pupil support assistants. Ms MacCallum added: “That’s how we can give teachers and children the extra help they need.”Earlier this week a parent called out bullying at the Anderson High School on social media.“This is not kids being kids,” the parent said.“It’s bullying and the school needs to address this instead of sweeping it under the carpet.” They called for parents to go straight to the council’s education department “if the school does nothing.”Shetland Islands Council said health and safety of everyone in schools was of “paramount importance”.“Any incident in a school is taken extremely seriously and is handled in accordance with the relevant agreed policies and procedures,” it said.Last month, this newspaper reported that more than a thousand violent acts took place in schools across Shetland in the last school year. The figures provided by the Scottish Liberal Democrats sparked calls for First Minister John Swinney to admit the SNP’s approach to school violence was failing.Shetland recorded 372 incidents in secondary schools – more than every other council area other than Glasgow, Moray and Fife. The figure was more than four times the previous year.The figures for primary schools were even higher. A total of 672 incidents were recorded in Shetland; up from 446 the previous year.
Source link
——————————————————–
Click Here For The Original Source.
.........................
