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After the Ombudsman’s shocking report into vicious assaults at Hutt Valley High School was released yesterday there are reports of another serious assault in a New Zealand school and inadequate sanctions taken against alleged offenders.

The culture of violence in New Zealand’s schools is widespread, some would even say endemic.

If you are emigrating to New Zealand with children, or are sending your children to New Zealand for an education you may wish to research the culture of violence and bullying in schools there.

Yesterday a report was released into violent offending at Hutt Valley High School, read HVHS Report. Ombudsmen Want Compulsory Anti-Bullying Programmes In NZ Schools (click on highlighted text to read)

The ombudsman’s report identified fear among teachers and lack of supervision, the school trying to minimise the seriousness of the assaults, the normalisation of a culture of violence, highlighted failings by a number of external organisations and called for anti-bullying programmes to be made mandatory in all New Zealand schools. The school was also criticised for  trying to protect their reputation with international students (who pay high fees) and not taking appropriate action against the offenders.

Today we have another shocking report of a high school and the news that the alleged offenders are back at school despite an ongoing investigation

A 14-year-old boy was dragged into a classroom by five older pupils, manhandled, assaulted and indecently touched in a mob bullying attack at Porirua’s Aotea College, authorities allege.

The five alleged offenders, aged 16 and 17, were stood down for three days for gross misconduct but are now back at school – along with their alleged victim, acting principal John Huston confirmed.

The lunchtime attack happened on August 18 in an unoccupied computer suite. It was investigated by detectives and  has now been passed to Youth Aid investigators, who will decide whether to lay charges… source

It’s appalling that alleged offenders were not suspended until the investigation was completed and are now back at school with their alleged victim.

New Zealander parents reacted angrily to the news, this is a sample of what they’ve been saying this morning on the Trademe message boards

• State schools arent allowed to teach morals anymore so what does society expect? This idea of doing away with any moral standards was originally welcomed by radical teachers in the 1970s because it fitted their agendas at the time, but the tiger has turned and their successors are now the victims. It goes to show that no ideology is perfect, and their academic forebears who dreamt of a socialist nirvana must have had sleepless nights when communism imploded almost overnight.

• Why has this degenerated into stupid ramblings of the few… A school (including the BOT) and it’s employees has again failed to provide a safe and conducive environment to learning. Thugs should not be allowed back to school until the decision surrounding any charges has been made.

• In the early 1990’s the New Zealand Foundation for Character Education Inc. recognised that something had gone wrong at the heart of New Zealand society. Since the 1960’s there had been a 400% increase in violent crime, a quadrupling of the teenage suicide rate, an extraordinary rise in sexual crimes and child abuse and an astronomical increase in school suspensions.
  Indeed, Ministry of Education figures provided in answers to 2004 Parliamentary Questions revealed that despite the expenditure of millions, at least from the primary schools’ perspective, there has been no improvement.Since 2000 primary schools suspensions and stand downs increased 31%, alcohol consumption 25%, physical assaults on staff 40%, assaults on other students 33%, sexual misconduct 21% and sexual harassment 83%.These are not teenagers or even intermediate school students but eight, nine and ten year olds. Of the 2,560 removals from primary school in 2003, 658 (13.8 %*) were for continual disobedience, 729 (33.3 %*) for physical assault on students, 147 (40 %*) for assaults on staff, 91 (37 %*) for verbal assaults on students and 310 (55.6 %*) for verbal assaults on staff.

• Perhaps National should have been doing something about these violent abusive behaviour problems at our schools, before tackling national standards.
  And no “Labour had 9 years” comebacks, it didn’t happen, get over it and live in today with the present government that you think are so good at everything … they must be the obvious choice to “fix” every problem in the country …yeah right ;D

• Perhaps this should not be a political football… perhaps it requures the concerted efforts of all our elected representitives to find a soilution not for the next 3 years but for the next generation… hate it when people turn child abuse or bullying into some sort of them and us campaign… these kids are the future of our country and no one has all the answers, and that definately includes the politicians and the sooner the left/right faction comes to understand this the better, as we may actually make progress towards providing a safe and secure environment in which children can grow and thrive in…

• We need to get real… There is a difference between bullying, assault and sexual assault – and we need to treat the latter as what they are…

• Bullying is words and taunts, exclusion all the emotional stuff as soon as it becomes physical there is a huge difference.At 16 and 17 these are young adults.The attackers are nothing but thugs seperate them throw them in jail for a week or 2 and see how they like it when they are on the receiving end.The problem we have in this country is that the lil shites know they can get away with it.Now its not just our justice system thats protecting criminals rather than victims but our school systems are well.