School violence: Union calls for help as teacher comes under fire for ‘dragging’ incident

The education union is calling for greater protection for teachers and better resources to tackle violence in schools.

A vice-principal is facing claims he dragged a 16-year-old student following a brawl at Berwick Secondary College on Tuesday.

In separate incidents, police were also called to violence at Sunshine Secondary College and McClelland College in Frankston.

Australian Education Union Victoria state president Meredith Peace told Ross and John it appears reported incidents are on the increase.

“Incidents like this which are of a very serious nature don’t occur often in what is a very large school system,” he said.

“But that are very concerning and they can have long-term impacts on the people involved.

On available evidence, Ross and John threw their support behind the Berwick vice-principal.

“We’re still finding out the details about what’s gone on at Berwick,” Ms Peace said.

“There are situations like this where you have to make, literally, split-second decisions about intervening in fights between kids.

“That’s a difficult spot for a staff member to be in.”

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Daryl, a McClelland College parent, said his son was shaken up by the incident at the school.

He said students were evacuated to the oval, but his son returned to his classroom to find a shocking scene.

“There were smashed windows, broken tables, there was blood … in the classroom,” he told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell.

The father said he has since been told the incident involved a single child.

He said nothing like this has ever happened before.

“I’ve had no issues with McClelland College,” he said.

“We’ve had no issues with anything like this before.”

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