Students who share violent content on social media will be suspended as part of the WA government's attempt to quell aggressive behaviour against staff and between students.
Key points:
- The WA government has updated its 'action plan' aimed at school violence
- Principals are being urged to remove troublemakers from school grounds
- The opposition is calling the government's plan a "complete failure"
The punishment previously only applied to students who filmed the content.
There were 2,275 reported incidents of assault or threatening behaviour against WA public school staff in 2022, with widespread concerns the issue is getting worse.
The state government has unveiled a campaign to address it, alongside an "updated action plan" that consists of setting "clear expectations" about how students and parents should behave.
Education Minister Tony Buti has encouraged principals to exercise their powers, available to them by law, to order people off school grounds and prohibit them from entering for up to 60 days.
"Principals have this power, and in the past most have chosen not to impose it," he said.
"The focus has been on collaboration and mutual respect, and it still is, but we will not allow this behaviour to continue any longer."
State School Teachers Union WA president Matt Jarman said while the campaign did not have many new initiatives, it bolstered the measures already in place.
"The first impact our school leaders and teachers will feel is confidence that they will now have unwavering support … to prohibit a parent or to automatically suspend, or even necessarily exclude a student," he said.
Mr Jarman welcomed the support, but highlighted that public schools still remained underfunded, meaning contributing factors to growing behavioural issues could not be addressed.
"The violence in our schools and the parent conduct towards our school leaders, and our members, has been deplorable in the last few years," he said.
Other measures outlined in the new plan include a support line for principals responding to violence, and additional training for staff.
Dr Buti said the new measures added to the government's existing "10-point action plan" to address school violence.
"The enhanced plan will empower principals to use the full force of the law and policy measures against those that behave in a threatening or intimidating manner or in a physically violent way," he said.
WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam said the government's announcement was symptomatic of wider issues across the state.
"This is indicative of the violence we're seeing right across the community," she said.
Ms Mettam welcomed the measures but said they only address part of the problem.
"Quite clearly the government's 10-point plan to combat school violence has been an absolute failure, and we need to see better measures right across the community," she said.
Updated 'action plan' on violence in WA schools encourages principals to take decisive action - ABC News
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