Teachers: Train us to use force against pupils

TEACHERS today demanded training in the use of force to restrain violent pupils amid warnings that classroom behaviour is out of control.

Weak parenting and violent TV programmes fuel the problem while some schools are too soft on unruly children, says the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

In the last 15 months, the union has received more than 200 insurance claims from teachers who have had cars vandalised and personal property damaged at school, while countless other members have suffered attacks and harassment at home.

New laws have given school staff a clear legal right to search pupils for weapons and use reasonable force to restrain violent children but delegates at the ATL conference in Liverpool said teachers were only given one and a quarter hours of optional training in how to handle "challenging behaviour".

Maxine Bradshaw, a representative from North Wales, said one ATL member suffered 17 smashed windows at home, while another had "Paed" scratched into his car door.

She said after her own car was damaged, police offered her the chance to meet the child responsible so they could reflect on their actions and apologise but this proved to be "a waste of time".

Andrew Shipley, from the Isle of Man, said he and his wife suffered late night phone calls, "sometimes sexually explicit", from drunken teenagers but was told police could do nothing.

Delegates backed motions calling for better training and guidance on "the use of physical restraint" and a "zero tolerance" approach to violence in schools.