SCHOOL DISCIPLINE:SOME 500 delegates attending the opening day of the ASTI conference in Killarney yesterday heard serious concerns about the ongoing discipline crisis in second-level schools.
In a strongly worded address, Greta Harrison, a member of the union's central executive, stressed the need to distinguish between disruptive behaviour in schools and what amounts to criminal behaviour.
"If they are breaking the law, the law of the land applies in school," she said. "Why should it be any different if [a student] does it in the classroom?" When we talk about students physically hurting people, or threatening others, sometimes under the influence of drink or drugs, Ms Harrison added that her "first call is to the gardaí".
But she was aware that in some cases, teachers who found themselves in this position were being asked to "hush it up".
"The law of the land does not stop at the gates of the school . . . what would we do if murdered someone. Suspend them for a couple of days?"
Others who contributed highlighted the need for a recent amendment to Section 29 of the Education Act - which sought to balance the rights of disruptive students and the rights of all students when it comes to suspensions and expulsions - to be followed up with the issuing of regulations by the Minister for Education.