WE share the views of the EIS teaching union over the need for urgent action from the Scottish Government to tackle classroom violence, as reported in The National on October 17.
Many of these incidents are linked to pupils with additional support needs (ASN), the number of whom has more than doubled since 2012, and now amounts to more than a third of pupils. Poor behaviour has been further exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost- of-living crisis, which has also increased mental health issues.
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However, this is set against a background of acute under-resourcing to support their needs, with the number of specialist ASN teachers falling by 546 between 2012 and 2022 as just one example.
Additional funding is desperately needed to increase the support available to those with ASN, including specialist teachers, teaching assistants, mental health professionals and child psychologists.
We would also suggest that the Scottish Government expand school counselling provision to all primary and special schools, and it needs to be recognised that many of these young people would be better off in specialist provision that better meets their needs.
Violence against any member of school staff or another pupil is never acceptable, and it is critical that local authorities and the Scottish Government take all possible action to ensure that our schools are safe places in which to work and to learn.
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition:Kenny Graham, Falkland House School; Lynn Bell, LOVE Learning; Stephen McGhee, Spark of Genius; Niall Kelly, Young Foundations
UKRAINE, Sudan and Palestine, the prospect of a wider war in the Middle East with nuclear weapons waiting in the wings, should alert every sane human being. It could bring humanity to a tipping point as pressure grows on the planet’s food and water resources due to it’s fast-changing climate.
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The manufacture and trading of arms is one of the world’s must profitable businesses, it is not a solution to the top problem we face. How do we, the planet’s humble public, control a handful of ego-mad dictators who may be supported by the echelons of high finance? The UK politician who had a hand in the Iraq war and then became an international peace envoy is moving back into politics. Let us hope that he and his ilk have learnt that wars do not not solve anything, they only intensify the growing dangers.
As cities become rubble, amidst the carnage and tragic loss of life the wildlife also suffers. A far-sighted leader of an independent Scotland backing the UN to the hilt is needed now to set an example to other nations. War will not save our environment.
Iain R Thomson
Strathglass
WHEN the current crisis in Israel began, too many people jumped in feet first and took one side or the other. If two of their neighbours were to start fighting each other in the street, would they go out and join in on one side? Or would they try to calm the situation? 75 years of taking sides since 1948 hasn’t solved anything.
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Perhaps the people taking sides should pause and think. One of the first things I do when a geopolitical crisis arises is to check share prices. Shares in the US arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin rose from $400 to $433, and those of BAE Systems soared from £980 to a record £1077, all within a couple of days of the Hamas attacks.
Imagine if there was profit in peace.
Geoff Moore
Alness, Highland
I HAVE just finished reading Pat Kane’s fine column in Saturday’s National on the ongoing vexatious situation that is Israel and Palestine. It brought to mind a quote from Noam Chomsky in around the late 80s/early 90s. It was directly related to that unending Middle East conflict and clearly aimed at the vastly, indeed obscenely, profitable weapons industry: “There was a danger of peace breaking out”.
Jennifer Rodger
West Kilbride
WHILE the recent actions of Hamas are to be condemned and have proved counterproductive for the population of Gaza and unfortunate bystanders caught up in the situation, the Israeli response was predictable from previous events.
The recent statements on Gaza by the US and UK governments confirm the view that the UK’s Middle East policy is decided by Washington and the US’s policy is dictated by Tel Aviv. The British response was therefore decided by Israel.
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It highlights the so-called Special Relationship of the UK and the USA, the UK’s role being that of a lamp post while the US is the dog.
Expressing sympathy for victims and condemning perpetrators of terrorism is one thing; giving a carte blanch to the victims in response sets a bad example for the future.
This is especially so with the current Israeli government, who given an inch would take a mile in their dealing with Palestinians.
Drew Reid
Falkirk
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