Violent kids push schools to the limit

SCARY: Pat Newman - more children are lashing out.

Increasing numbers of Northland children are arriving at school as new entrants so badly damaged, so scared of being hurt, so angry with life, that even at that age they are responding by lashing out, at adults and other children or adults, biting and throwing furniture.

And schools were not being equipped to deal with the problem, Te Tai Tokerau Principals' Association president Pat Newman said.

That was the the "alarming" picture painted by more than 100 responses to an association survey of principals in the region aimed at gauging special education and behavioural concerns.

Fifty-one per cent said either the lack of appropriate resourcing or the lack of help from outside agencies were their biggest causes of concern in dealing with special needs or behaviourally challenging pupils. "The results are damning," Mr Newman said. "The really scary thing is that these are children aged roughly 5 to 10 years of age. Fifty-one per cent of our schools are saying quite categorically that the resourcing available to help these children is insufficient, and staff and other children are coming into danger from some of these children."

The Ministry of Education claimed that Te Tai Tokerau was better-funded for special education and behaviour than elsewhere, but that funding was not covering the needs of individual children in the North.

"We now have another road show on reforming the special education system, but all it is doing is trying to squeeze the last drop of blood out of the stone. There is no new funding available. We are just reinventing how we access it," Mr Newman said.

"Already some schools up here have been told that applications for help far outweigh the funding available!

"Governments seem able to find funding when it suits for their political directions; $129,000 for the failing charter school at Whangaruru would have provided 7000 hours of support. The $26 million for the flag debate, the $350 million for getting schools to work together, would have gone a long way in assisting these children, in Te Tai Tokerau and elsewhere in New Zealand, so don't tell me there is no money available. It's obviously there when it suits.

"Do we spend a minimal amount now, or spend a fortune in 10 years jailing them after they have hurt or killed someone else?

"For far too long schools, principals, teachers and boards have been blamed for the problems encountered by our students," he added.

"We are not miracle workers. There is a limit to what any teacher or school can achieve. Before Te Tai Tokerau Schools continue to be blamed for supposedly under-performing, before money is used for ideas like flags, the real need is to actually adequately resource a huge and growing problem in the North, particularly around behaviourally challenging pupils. It is now a health and safety issue.

"We are told that the North is recognised as an area in need. Those of us working here have known this for years, and have constantly told Wellington, to no avail. Increases in funding have been more about patching up a sinking ship than covering the real needs.

"The survey results show that schools in Te Tai Tokerau should be applauded for the success they have managed to achieve, with insufficient resourcing over decades." NZEI Te Riu Roa president Louise Green said the problem of growing numbers of violent children entering schools was not exclusive to the Far North, however. Many areas and school communities were experiencing increasing anger and violence issues with even very young children, because of the horrors they had already witnessed and experienced at home.

"With the proper professional support we can help these children, but the money and assistance is not forthcoming," she said.

"Instead, they are a danger to themselves, their classmates and their teachers, and we are losing the opportunity to help these kids before the damage is irreversible.

"These hurting little children should be our priority. They need professionals working with them and their families and their schools, otherwise the tragic outcomes for their lives are all too predictable."