Fresh call to stop suspending naughty ­students from schools because it causes trouble at local shops

Youth workers, academics and P&C officials are calling for principals to stop suspending thousands of naughty ­students from schools with these fresh claims about its flow-on effect. TAKE OUR POLL.

Youth workers, academics and P&C officials are calling for principals to stop suspending thousands of naughty ­students from schools.

They claim the punishment sets up a cycle of disadvantage which just results in errant students dropping out of school and causing more trouble at local shopping centres.

But principals are adamant suspension is a vital circuit breaker that shelters good students in classrooms from violent and disruptive pupils.

The calls come as the Education Department conducts a review of its discipline policy covering 800,000 students.

Almost 70,000 suspensions, involving a total of 44,000 students, were recorded in public schools in 2017.

Youth Off The Streets founder and CEO Father Chris Riley said suspending students made them give up on school.

Youth Off The Streets founder and CEO Father Chris Riley said suspending students made them give up on school.

“Suspending students from school is a bad idea that is often used to exclude,” he said.

“They can order up to 20 days suspension, which is the maximum time. Often, students return from suspension only to be suspended again.

“This constant exclusion from school makes the student give up on education.”

Sharryn Brownlee, president of the Central Coast P&C Council, where 2683 students were suspended in 2017, said suspension meant kids were more likely to disconnect from school and become illiterate.

“I hope that one day suspension is like corporal punishment and we don’t do that to children anymore,” she said.

Fresh claims says suspension sets up a cycle of disadvantage which just results in errant students dropping out of school and causing more trouble at local shopping centres.

“They’re become the kids who never complete schools and don’t get a school certificate in Year 10 and don’t even get a NAPLAN in Year 9.”

Edith Cowan University behaviour expert Dr Helen Egeberg said students caused more trouble when they were unsupervised.

“Our job as educators is to attend to the needs of all of our students even the most unlovable,” she said. “When a student’s suspended, if they come from a background where there’s no one at home, they end up down at the local shops causing more trouble.”

But Secondary Principals Council President Chris Presland said suspensions helped teachers protect good pupils from their violent students.

“The Principal Council’s view is we certainly think the suspension and expulsion procedures are adequate. We would not want to see them watered down. We’re not in favour of the in-school suspension,” Mr Presland said. “As a principal it always weighed heavily on my mind … what was the impact of that student on the other kids in the class. Sometimes that gets lost.”

Dr Helen Egeberg said students caused more trouble when they were unsupervised.

Originally published as Fresh call to stop suspending naughty ­students from schools because it causes trouble at local shops