Secondary school students insist: we are not the problem

Indiscipline in schools is a ‘crisis of epidemic proportions’, according to a report published last week by the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI). 97% of teachers surveyed experienced student misbehaviour or disruption in the classroom, including physical violence and verbal abuse.
Teachers cited incidents where stones were thrown at them on school grounds, and their cars maliciously damaged. Half of teachers reported disrespect among students. In particular, there was regular bullying of diligent students.
This shows the pendulum of rights has swung too far in favour of disruptive students, claim the TUI – and the Department of Education and Science agrees. The Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, plans to change Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998, to remove the right of students to appeal against suspension or expulsion, in order, to “stress the right of the compliant majority to learn”.
Will an increase in severity of punishment for disruptive students solve the indiscipline crisis?
Hazel Nolan, President of the Union of Secondary Students (USS) isn’t buying it.
“Many students today feel they are classed as a ‘problem’,” she says. “But the real problem is the lack of educational opportunities, overcrowded classes, and the lack of support services for students. That leads to frustration for both students and teachers, which results in an unsuitable learning and teaching environment. Anyway, students and their parents should retain the right to appeal suspensions and expulsion.”
A reduction in class size, the empowerment of students and an emphasis on rights and responsibilities are all recommended in the Task Force on Indiscipline Report launched, to great fanfare, last week by Minister Hanafin. Too often, however, reports like this one, end up gathering dust, their recommendsations ignored.
“The department betrayed their commitment to implement the McGuinness report of 2001, which also recommended smaller class sizes,” Hazel says.
Meanwhile, the over-emphasis on punishment – strongly criticised by USS, hotpress and others, in relation to Anti Social Behaviour Orders – is re-surfacing within the debate on indiscipline. The Minister for Children, Brian Lenihan, implemented ASBOs last December. ASBOs apply to children between 12 and 18, and judges can name the children against whom ASBOs are taken out. Rather than investing in preventative measures such as youth workers and youth facilities, young people are being further punished and alienated as a result. This is hard to stomach, especially when you realize that – when it comes to overall investment in education – Ireland is towards the bottom of the league, coming 21 out of 27 OECD countries.
Hazel Nolan believes that the entire focus of the education system needs to change. She argues that the CAO and the points system should be scrapped. In this, she reflects the feelings of a lot of leaving cert students, who are currently bunkered down, swotting for this year’s exam.
“The Leaving Certificate damages education,” she says. “It’s perfect to make students compliant, unimaginative, conformist and uninformed people – but it’s no way to create innovative, inspiring, individuals with imagination and initiative.”
Students are expected to act responsibly and are taught about democracy and rights – but they don’t get any practical experience in either!
“Learning about democracy in schools is like reading holiday brochures in prison,” Hazel laughs. “A lot of the student councils are tokenistic. They can be dissolved by the boards of management, and teachers can veto decisions.”
The Union of Secondary Students, only five years old, was set up without funding, has no full-time staff and is completely voluntary. It already has members in over 80 schools around the country. Secondary school unions in most European countries receive anything up to e250,000 per year in funding. In contrast, Hazel had to use her own savings to pay for the postage on invitation letters for USS’s Annual General Meeting.
Mary Hanafin promised last year, to help USS with funding for the AGM – but, according to Hazel, that promise has been broken.
“They are not funding us because they are scared,” she insists. “Since the state was founded, the assumption was that students were to be seen but not heard. The education system fears that if students have a voice, they will be rebellious and unwilling to co-operate.
“Students need to get active and make their voices heard to change this,” Hazel says. “Get involved, use your mind, have faith in your own opinions. You can have an impact – just look at the students in Palmerstown getting Kunle, who was deported to Nigeria, returned to Ireland.”
One things for certain: the problem of indiscipline is more likely to be effectively addressed if the views of students, and young people generally, are taken on board.
Pics: Graham Keogh