When will John Swinney and the SNP finally start taking school violence seriously?

It is a straightforward truism that violence in schools is “definitely unacceptable”. And yet Scotland’s First Minister found himself saying just that in response to new figures showing an increase in violence in classrooms and reports from the GMB union that some support staff have even started wearing protective vests beneath their clothes.

Teachers have also been trying to raise the alarm, with Scotland on Sunday publishing the diary of a typical week by one member of the profession in which he wrote: “A young, pregnant female member of staff is pushed and falls in a corridor scrum, with jeering following. She’s encouraged not to formally report it because she’s on a temporary contract so ‘you should leave it with us’. Nothing happens to the male pupils involved.”

Figures obtained in October through a freedom of information request revealed 490 reports of serious injuries to school staff were caused by violence between 2014 and 2024 in Scotland, proportionally higher than in England and Wales. The GMB warned of a "dramatic escalation in violence and threatening behaviour" in schools across Scotland, with a 30 per cent rise in Glasgow.

READ MORE: Classroom phone ban: 'Anxious pupils were calling home five times a day'

John Swinney and his government need to get real about the problem of violence in Scotland's schools (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell) | Getty Images

‘Schools should be safe’

Speaking to the Press Association, John Swinney said that “violence is completely unacceptable in any part of our society and most definitely unacceptable in our schools... Our schools should be safe places of learning and of work for individuals,” he added. Well, of course they should be.

However, he then said that government guidance produced with unions and councils was “now in place to ensure that schools are safe, that violence is not tolerated, and that the appropriate measures are in place to tackle violence in our schools”.

READ MORE: Why pandering to violent, abusive school pupils is bad for them and terrible for Scotland

If Swinney is suggesting the government has done enough on this issue, we suspect next year’s figures will demonstrate just how badly out of touch he and his ministers really are with the actual situation.

Until teachers are given the authority to restore order in classrooms and the punishment for violence provides an effective deterrent, these problems are only going to get worse. It’s beyond time for the SNP to finally treat school violence with the seriousness it deserves.

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