Scottish children becoming unruly
Scotland's classrooms are under growing pressure from troubled and unruly pupils, after a "phenomenal jump" in the number of children requiring extra support.
According to Government figures the number of youngsters with social, emotional and behaviourial difficulties (SEBD) has grown seven-fold since 2003 and almost doubled in the past five years.
There were 28,354 schoolchildren in this category last year, up from just 3,849 in 2003. Officials pointed out that a change in 2010 led to more pupils being included in the statistics, although the total in that year was still only 14,738.
Over the same period, shrinking education budgets have seen a sharp decline in national teacher numbers – down from a high of 52,466 in 2007 to 48,442 last year.
Children with SEBD can be very disruptive in the classroom and typically make up the majority of pupils excluded from secondary schools in Scotland each year. Teachers have also blamed the rise in unruly pupils and their inability to punish them properly for a “stress epidemic”.
The latest figures were uncovered by Scottish Labour leadership contender Ken Macintosh, who said the increase SEBD pupils was “staggering”.
He added: “I do not want to create hysteria but the rise has been phenomenal. It is astonishing. Yet very little seems to have been done to even try and explain what is going on. The way the statistics for additional support for learning are collected changed in 2010 but I don’t believe for a second that alone can explain the phenomenal jump.
“My concern is that there is complacency around this, almost an acceptance that this is how it is and nothing more can be done. If we have this raising trend then we need to understand why it is happening and make sure these young people have got the support their need, which is difficult when budgets are being squeezed all around.”
Experts agree that SEBD can have a number of causes, including physical or sexual abuse, poverty, drug or alcohol problems in the family or disability.
Dr Elaine Lockhart, vice chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and consultant in paediatric liaison psychiatry at Yorkhill Sick Children’s Hospital in Glasgow, said referrals have increased dramatically over recent years.
She added: “Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are seeing more children and young people with these difficulties and with increased complexity here in Scotland, referrals to our services have increased by 40 per cent over the past few years.
"At any one time 10 per cent of children and young people will have a mental health disorder which is having an impact on their functioning. We are seeing more children with neurodevelopmental problems who will struggle socially, educationally and behaviourally at school.
"There may be societal reasons fro this, for example the impact of poverty, alcohol and substance misuse, parental mental and physical health disorders as well as the fact that there are more children surviving with conditions which wouldn’t have previously been the case such as extreme prematurity and complex genetic conditions et cetera.
"But while these difficulties are being recognised more than previously, it is my sense that for various reasons they have also increased over the past decade in term of severity and complexity."
A spokesman for Scotland's largest teaching union, EIS, said there had been a "significant decrease in the specialist provision" available to challenging pupils under the SNP. He added: “The EIS is not opposed to the principle of mainstreaming pupils with additional support needs (ASN), where this is in the best interests of the children concerned and when adequate supporting resources are put in place.
“However, the decision to place pupils with additional support needs in mainstream schools should never be seen as a cheap option as it is actually more resource-intensive, and therefore brings additional costs.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "Prior to 2010, only pupils with Co-ordinated Support Plans, Individualised Educational Programmes or who were attending a special school were recorded as having ASN.
"In 2010 this was extended to include anyone receiving additional support. As a result, there has been increase in the number of pupils recorded with ASN since 2010 and this better reflects the picture of support provided to pupils in Scotland."
Paula Murray
7 June 2015
http://www.express.co.uk/scotland/582751/Scottish-schools-children-unruly-troubled