Mt Druitt, Eastern Creek and Quakers Hill among suburbs of most reported school crimes

A high number of “disturbing incidents” have been reported at schools in the Blacktown area, with three suburbs featured among NSW’s top 10 schools for reported incidents.

A suburb in the Blacktown area is among the top three areas for disturbing incidents by students, as reported by the Principal’s Network.

Mt Druitt was number 2 on the list with 42 reported cases, followed by Quakers Hill and Eastern Creek with 27 reported cases each.

Examples of disturbing incidents include viewing and sharing graphic content on social media and reports of a video showing a student in possession of a weapon being posted to social media.

Blacktown Police crime manager Paul Tickner said police were doing their best to curb crime among young people.

“We have school liaison officers who lecture kids on cybercrime, sexting or anything else that may be of concern in that school,” he said.

“We also have a youth liaison officer who works at Mt Druitt to make sure appropriate action has been taken by police and focuses on diversion to keep kids out of the court system.”

Local police in Blacktown are doing their best to curb crime among young people.

While these issues are heavily present in a couple of Blacktown suburbs, indecent assault is an issue that is plaguing state schools across NSW with rates surging by 44 per cent over the last year.

Experts point to an increase of pornography consumption by boys, at much younger ages, to be an aggravating factor.

A majority of the indecent assaults – which are assaults of a sexual nature that do not involve rape – were student on student.

Another major concern in public schools across the state are the number of suicide attempts among schoolchildren which also jumped by almost 50 per cent from 83 in 2019 to 123 in 2020, according to the Department of Education’s register of “serious” incidents.

Child psychologist Rose Cantali said the rise in attempted suicides could have been driven by lockdowns, which led to students’ mental health deteriorating.

“The things like going to school, talking to friends, they’ve been denied all that and it is going to increase suicidal thoughts,” Ms Cantali told The Daily Telegraph.

Rise in attempted suicides have been linked to lockdowns and deteriorating mental well being among students, according to a child psychologist.

Opposition education spokeswoman Prue Car called on the government to do more for students’ mental health.

“There are not enough school counsellors in NSW, and rectifying this is one way the NSW government can address their shortcomings in supporting student mental health now,” she said.

Anyone experiencing distress is encouraged to contact police or reach out to Lifeline on 13 11 14.