More South Australian public school students are bringing weapons to class, with police call-outs to government school campuses reaching a record of almost 1,200 state-wide last year.
The most calls for help from 2021 to 2023 came from John Pirie Secondary School with 44, Whyalla Secondary College with 43, Port Augusta Secondary School with 38, Augusta Park Primary with 19, Clare High with 20, Kadina Memorial with 12, and Hincks Avenue Primary with 9.
Education Minister Blair Boyer says the trend seems to be slowing this year, which he partially attributes to government measures including the ban on mobile phones in schools, installing security guards, and making it easier to ban abusive parents.
“What we’ve actually seen in the second half of last year, and now in the first four months of this year, is a drop in school violence,” Minister Boyer says.
Shadow Education Minister John Gardner is confident it’s just a small cohort causing trouble.
“The vast majority of incidents are at a lower level, and they’re the sorts of behaviours where students exhibit defiance against teachers, and indeed their behaviours are capable of being supported better if training is in place,” Shadow Minister Gardner says.
