What is the world coming to????
I had a blog planned for this week, but I have postponed it because of yet another stabbing incident in a school. If you have been locked in a bubble over the last couple of days and haven’t heard, I am referring to the horrific news of Bailey Gwynne being stabbed by another pupil at Cults Academy School in Aberdeen. Schools are meant to be places of safety, where children go to learn in a secure and controlled environment. Schools are a place where parents and guardians can drop off their children knowing that they are going to return at the end of the day, with hopefully extra knowledge and wisdom. However, it is clear to say that the schooling environment is becoming a worrying place to be, both for children and for teachers. Safeguarding is such a key issue at the moment, and yet the contradictory of incidents such as Bailey’s attack still continues to increase. If you remember my very first blog written in early June, it was about a 14year old boy stabbing supply teacher Vincent Uzomah of Dixons Kings Academy. It has literally only been four months since that mortifying incident happened, and now another school stabbing in Aberdeen. THIS HAS TO STOP NOW!! What will the government do to prevent these barbaric attacks from constantly happening? Bailey Gwynne’s case is being treated as a murder inquiry, with a 16year old boy detained on suspicion. I strongly believe that an example should be made of the student involved in Bailey’s death… a warning to all students of the consequences to be faced if such an event should happen again. What makes a child want to bring a knife into school in the first place? …a question that needs to be addressed. Are we at a point now where children should be checked daily for weaponry? Scary prospect! How would we do it? A ‘pat down’ doorman style would provoke all kinds of issues, whereby parents and guardians may accuse of their children being touched inappropriately. Then there is the searching of school bags… again teachers are bound to be accused of invading pupil privacy… which leads to scanners… or maybe even metal detectors. Cheap enough to provide for each school, not invasive in any kind of way, and they will detect metal (such as knives).
What are your views? Please share them…
Andy T