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Schools suspend hundreds every day
31.10.08
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More than 340 children are suspended for violence against other pupils every school day in England, figures from the Conservatives showed.
Official data showed 65,390 pupils were temporarily excluded for violence against their classmates in 2006/07, the party said. The figure is up 2,720 on the previous year, and equates to 344 suspensions per school day.
The Tories argued the figures demonstrated further evidence of the lack of discipline in schools.
They have also highlighted large increases in suspensions in certain areas.
In the London borough of Southwark, the number of exclusions for violence rose from 166 to 348 last year - up 110%. Hartlepool saw the number rise 53%, while they were up 50% in Middlesbrough.
Exclusions were up more than 10% in London as a whole, with inner London the UK region showing the biggest increase, up 20% to 3,430.
Across England overall, the increase was 4.3% between 2005/06 and 2006/07.
The Government defended the figures, saying teachers were using "short, sharp shocks" to control pupils.
But shadow children's secretary Michael Gove said: "This is further evidence of the lack of discipline in our schools.
"It is vital that teachers are given control over the classroom so they can deal with bad behaviour before it escalates into violence."
Reader views (3)
Most state secondaries have over 30 children in a class with one teacher, more if a good school has appeals taking this number higher. Added to this the new acadamies can exclude disruptive children without a comeback whereas "good" state schools have to replace their excluded child with one from elsewhere, ensuring all "good" schools will have to live with disruption bringing discipline down to lowest common denominator
- Andy, London
This all goes back to the late 60s when all those Liberal do-gooders thought it would be a good idea to put 'problem families' as they were then called, on housing estates with decent hard working people in the hope that the decent folk could change their ways. Also how we shouldn't chastise children, nor smack them, that would be so cruel. I knew it wouldn't work at the time, and of course it hasn't. No corporal punishment in schools now, no respect for themselves or anyone else and a complete lack of discipline. Lenient parents are solely to blame as is successive governments who consistently took the easy way out instead of getting tough and setting an example of anyone that stepped out of line. We are now reaping that legacy.
- Sue, Orpington, Kent
Maybe it's time for a swing back towards a more traditional approach to discipline in schools. 40yrs of liberal, progressive thought has left us with a generation who have no respect for themselves or their elders. If children are not taught basic manners and discipline at home the schools have no chance. We need to hive off the rump of children who cause trouble and go back to the basics of teaching them how to behave and the think about academic pursuits. Inclusion just drags everybody down to the lowest level.
- Mark, London
