Children dealing and smoking drugs in schools

Children as young as 10 are dealing and smoking cannabis at school, and boards of trustees are being told to call police to deal with the growing playground drug culture.

The School Trustees Association annual conference in Auckland yesterday heard there was a "worrying trend" of increased disciplinary action against primary school children using marijuana.

Ron Mulligan, the association's trusteeship adviser, said the evidence was anecdotal, "but we are hearing about it because it's a shock to primary schools.

"It's an offence they've not had to deal with in the past and it makes them very nervous."

Mr Mulligan said the offenders were usually in years seven and eight and, though there were instances of dealing, more often it was a case of children "simply sharing it among themselves".

Schools should call police because it was not just a behavioural problem but a legal one, Mr Mulligan said.

The finding is one of two new issues faced by school trustees and revealed at the conference.

The other, mainly in secondary schools, is a growing number of sexual harassment and misconduct cases.

While the total number of stand-downs and suspensions has remained reasonably stable nationwide, punishments for sexual-related misbehaviour have shot up.

Ministry of Education figures show the number of stand-down and suspension cases involving sexual harassment or misconduct has risen by almost a third in two years.

There were 283 in 2002, but that had risen to 371 at the end of the last school year.

Debate on the spiralling problem comes after a week in which a Herald DigiPoll survey revealed 43.7 per cent of people believed education had got worse since Labour became Government.

Twenty-eight per cent felt it was no different while 14.2 per cent said education had improved since Labour came to power.

Mr Mulligan, who in 1999 helped to develop rules to be followed in disciplinary action cases, said school communities needed to instil stricter codes of values to counter the problems.

"You want to help the student, but you also need to make sure the rest of the student population can be educated in a safe environment. It's a real balancing act," Mr Mulligan said.

He urged schools to seek out and lean on the many other agencies available to help them, including behaviour modification, anger management and drug and alcohol counselling.

"Good values need to be instilled in a school's culture. Schools have to look at ways to work with a student," Mr Mulligan said.

The basic concept of the rules developed in 1999 is to minimise disruption to a child's education.

Mr Mulligan said, despite the changing problems, that had not changed.

It was no good to "kick them out on the street" because the longer children were out of the education system the harder it was to get them back in.

The association's conference, which continues over the weekend, is also looking at preventing bullying and at under-funding.