KEY POINTS:
Schools are no longer a haven for children trying to escape from family violence at home, an Auckland social worker says.
Tiana Turner, who works with children aged 8 to 16 for the Tamaki Pathways Trust, told politicians at a pre-election social policy forum yesterday that schools were
failing children from families with "inter-generational abuse".
"When it comes to inter-generational welfare, often it's inter-generational abuse," she said.
"Schools used to be a safe haven. What I have noticed is that school is no longer a safe haven. They [children] go from their homes that are extremely challenging to a school environment that is even worse."
She said later that traditional schoolyard bullying had escalated into "ostracising" some children.
"The teachers are not in a position to give a safe environment for a lot of the kids, so instead of going to school they truant. Their parents will allow them to stay at home because the kids are genuinely frightened," she said.
"The guidelines for schools and teachers have no real ability to put in very clear boundaries to have a safe environment.
"The only way they can deal with it is a series of notes home, suspending them, calling meetings, and at the worst they can exclude them - which only puts young people on the street getting no education, with no confidence and no self-esteem."
Trust director Atawhai Morgan said some schools were not following the required procedure of notifying Child, Youth and Family Services (CYFS) when they saw marks of physical injuries on their students.
But Secondary Principals Association president Peter Gall disagreed with Ms Turner.
"I don't think bullying is on the rise, it's always been there, it is just being better reported. I think schools are very much the safest places that exist for many young people."
Teachers often felt frustrated with agencies like CYFS when reporting injuries because their response was not immediate.
"Schools have anti-bullying policies, safety policies and anti-harassment policies and ERO [Education Review Office]) check that out ... Schools work really really hard to ensure that they are safe places. Of course there are going to be cases ... but I do believe schools are doing a really good job."
Social Development Minister Ruth Dyson said the Government was lifting school budgets, using free preschool education to prepare children for school and encouraging "personalised learning" to cope with such issues.
National MP Judith Collins said schools should be made more relevant to pupils through initiatives such as trades training, but offenders should get "Fresh Start" programmes including army-style camps.