Afternoon:
14°c
Drug tests and ban on hoodies to tackle violence at colleges
Tim Ross and Katharine Barney21.10.09
Students will be given random drug tests, frisked for weapons and told to wear their hoodies down in a drive to cut gang crime in London's colleges.
Airport-style metal detectors should be introduced alongside visible policing in some of the worst affected institutions, ministers say.
A report by the Association of Colleges and City Hall said nine out of 10 London colleges have experienced gang-related violence. And a government study found students had easy access to guns and knives, while drug dealers operated at the gates of some colleges. Fights on campus were reported, with rare cases of students being killed or seriously injured.
In an initiative backed by education minister David Lammy and Boris Johnson, colleges are being sent new government guidance. It says colleges should consider:
Random drug tests, weapons searches, use of knife arches and metal detector wands, and personal security alarms for staff.
Passes or ID cards, turnstiles, random ID checks, and CCTV.
A "hoods down" policy so that faces are visible to security cameras.
More police visible on site, along with permanent security staff.
The College of North East London, College of North West London and Lewisham College were praised for taking action to tackle violence.
Reader views (2)
Unfortunately as in any industry colleges do attract youths that have no interest in study. It is then up to the college staff to identify these individuals as early as possible and detach them from the rest of the college population. This is the responsibility of all staff at Colleges all over the UK and is indeed not a reflection on the standard of students that study at the college as suggested above.
- Gavin Prime, London UK
I was on a train recently listening to a very vocal youth threatening to 'bang' an acquaintance the next day. His girlfriend was urging him not to in case he got thrown out of college. I couldn't beieve my ears - he was a violent thug who could barely string a sentence together! Good help the future of this country if that is what colleges are churning out.
- Liz, London
