South Australian school campus violence is worse now than it was pre-pandemic

The number of violent attacks in SA schools has hit its highest level in years as educators reveal what they think is fuelling the aggression.

The number of violent attacks in South Australian schools is at a three-year high – equating to more than 50 each week — amid concerns the Covid-19 pandemic has eroded relationships on campuses.

Education Department data shows there were 2060 attacks in government schools during 2021, including those between students, and also involving parents, staff and community members.

That was up almost 17 per cent on the number of acts of violence in SA schools in 2019, before the pandemic emerged.

From 2019 to last year, attacks by children against their peers increased 22 per cent to 1059 incidents, while violence against staff rose 12 per cent to 762 cases.

South Australian Secondary Principals’​ Association chief executive Jayne Heath said rolling shutdowns and school “circuit-breakers”, where campuses closed for several days to stop Covid-19 spreading, had affected schools’ culture.

South Australian Secondary Principals’​ Association chief executive Jayne Heath. Picture: AAP

“Normally we’d have a lot of programs around getting to know each other,” Ms Heath said.

“Things like rolling shutdowns affected schools’ capacity to do that.

“We’ve been talking to our minister and our department about what we can do to try and build that culture in our schools, like what it used to be.”

Ms Heath said students and teachers had greater difficulty building a rapport with each other, because staff were required to spend greater time at home due to Covid isolation rules.

“If you have those sound relationships it’s much easier to resolve tensions,” she said.

In May, school violence was thrust into the spotlight when video circulated of a 16-year-old Whyalla Secondary College girl being attacked.

A 15-year-old girl was charged over the alleged “kick and stomp” incident, and hours later, a second video emerged of two young boys fighting in the school’s corridors.

The female assault victim has since returned to school, while the alleged perpetrator has been excluded.

Extra counsellors have been at the school supporting students. Education Minister Blair Boyer said he planned to return to the Upper Spencer Gulf city to discuss whether additional help was needed.

Whyalla Secondary College was the scene of a bashing which was posted on social media. Picture: Dean Martin

Mr Boyer said a commitment to install an additional 100 wellbeing officers in schools, costing $50m, would help curb violence in and out of the classroom.

“We need to look at the underlying causes of this violence and try to address that — that’s how we’ll get a long-term reduction in these figures,” he said.

He said a government plan to reduce students’ access to mobile phones at secondary schools would also curb bullying.

Mr Boyer supported Ms Heath’s call for teachers to be supported so they could spend more time planning extra-curricular activities, such as camps, drama and sport opportunities which would help build relationships between school groups.

Australian Education Union SA president Andrew Gohl said assaults against teachers often left lasting psychological injuries.

He said extra learning support for children was vital to help reduce violence, because incidents often emerged among disengaged students.

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