Primary schoolchildren threaten to behead teachers
TWO children under 10 have threatened to behead teachers in separate shocking incidents of extremist behaviour at government primary schools.
NSW
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TWO schoolchildren younger than 10 have threatened to behead teachers in separate shocking incidents of extremist behaviour at government primary schools.
The threats at the schools, which education authorities have not named, were reported to police earlier this year.
They follow revelations in The Daily Telegraph that 10 boys at just one primary school in Sydney’s inner west were found to be “at risk” of becoming radicalised.
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The two latest incidents are believed to have involved non-Muslim students, but the threats appear to have been inspired by the actions of jihadis.
The Daily Telegraph has previously revealed some NSW school students were showing signs of extreme radicalisation as early as Year 5.
School pupils as young as five are being monitored in a bid to stop vulnerable students from becoming violent criminals or child terrorists amid concerning reports that teachers and psychologists are identifying a rising number of seriously disturbed children.
The threats to behead teachers in public schools were first reported to the Education Department’s incident report and support hotline and confirmed in a freedom of information request by this newspaper.
It is not known what action was taken following the threats to the teachers but the department said principals had an option to suspend students over such behaviour.
At least 19 Sydney schools, understood to be in the city’s western and southwestern suburbs, have been identified as being at risk from radicalised recruiters seeking to exploit vulnerable students.
A former female teacher told how she was forced to leave the public education system after primary students threatened to kill her family.
“Some students would act out beheadings with their fingers across their necks,” she said.
Education sources said children who had returned from visits to war zones in the Middle East were enrolled in Sydney schools and their behaviour was being closely monitored.
A Department of Education document states schools are required to report all incidents “where it is identified that a student may be at risk or where a student may be placing others in schools at risk”.