Unsecured campuses do nothing to improve student safety
Parents moving to New Zealand looking for a better life for their kids may be surprised to hear that their children are more likely to be exposed to dangers they would not have otherwise experienced.
Schools in New Zealand have open campuses with little or no control over who can and can’t enter the school grounds (although some schools in south Auckland now have a police presence) We’ve written before about school invasions where groups of maurading kids from one school storm into another and wreak havoc on defenseless victims, both in classes and in the playground.
Sadly, there’s another reminder today that New Zealand’s notoriously violent culture shows no signs of abating with a child child being attacked by drunken thugs while playing in the grounds of his residential school.
Van Asch Deaf College is a residential special school for deaf children. About a dozen students live on the campus
A 14-year-old deaf boy has been assaulted while playing with friends at Van Asch College in Christchurch. The unprovoked attack was carried out on Saturday evening by two white males as the boy played spotlight on the grounds of the Sumner school.
Two white males, one wearing a blue cap and the other wearing a white cap, approached the boy while his friends were hiding as part of the game. After realising the boy was deaf and initially turning away, the attackers then turned around and ran directly at him. One male punched the boy in the face and kicked him in the thigh. Police said it was believed both the attackers had been drinking…source NZ Herald
Lack of security has been a problem for New Zealand schools for many years, there have been many cases of school invasions and classroom attacks by outsiders. Yet, schools appear to have neither the will, nor the money, to erect fences and gates around their campuses.
An article published yesterday gives more details about the attack
A deaf teenager was “king-hit” and then kicked in an unprovoked, alcohol-fuelled attack at a special needs school.
The 14-year-old boy suffered injuries to his face and leg during the beating, which unfolded in the grounds of van Asch Deaf Education Centre, in the Christchurch suburb of Sumner, about 7.30pm on Saturday.
Police say they are hunting for two men in connection with the “disgusting and cowardly” attack.
The school says it has boosted security amid fears another pupil could be targeted.
But the article didn’t expand on what “booster security” actually entailed.
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Hammer involved in Aranui High School ‘brawl’
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/71902708/hammer-involved-in-aranui-high-school-brawl
A parent is concerned about violence at a Christchurch school after a fight broke out involving a pupil carrying a hammer.
Teresa Molloy said her 14-year-old son had not been back to school this week after he was threatened during a “massive brawl” by the pupil holding a hammer.
The 16-year-old pupil, who her son said often threatened pupils by saying his father was in the Mongrel Mob gang, “went to attack” her son with the hammer, she said.
“[The pupil] was only stood down for two days. I think they’re trying to hide all the violence and gang element there.
Police handcuffed primary school boy
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/283572/police-handcuffed-primary-school-boy
The case of a violent primary school boy who had to be handcuffed has highlighted what some say is increasing violence in primary schools and has sparked a call for teachers to be trained in safe ways to restrain out of control pupils.
Handcuffs
Details have just emerged about the incident at an unnamed school that ended with police officers having to restrain the boy .
Two officers called to the school in May 2014 found the boy on top of a 2.5m high filing cabinet, with a kitchen knife, scissors and metal bars all within reach, and was throwing items at staff.
Superintendent Chris Scahill, police national operations and response manager, said one officer used an arm restraint to get the boy down.
“The young person continued to struggle. At that point a decision was made to place that young person in handcuffs to enable getting them into the back of a vehicle.”
Mr Scahill said it was rare for police to use such force against a child, but they had to prevent him hurting himself and others.
He said the school appeared to have tried everything to de-escalate the situation, including putting the boy in isolation in another room, before police arrived.
“Upon police arrival, there were school staff and a parent present. They were having no success whatsoever. In fact by this stage, the [boy] had climbed up on top of the filing cabinet and had smashed a window. So police were in a position where they knew they had to act reasonably quickly.”
Principals Federation president Denise Torrey said it was highly unusual for the police to have to step in in such a way, especially at a primary school.
“In an extreme case like this where the child is at risk to himself and others the use of the police is definitely justified,” said Ms Torrey. “Teachers aren’t trained to deal with highly violent children.”
She presumes the police decision to use handcuffs was a last resort.
Paul Kennedy, former president of the Special Education Principals Association, said teachers in general were facing violence in the classroom and in the playground a lot more often than ever in the past.
He estimated less than 5 percent of schools in New Zealand had a staff member trained in safe restraint which, he said, put both teachers and students at risk.