Leading Article: At last, action on knife possession
Thursday, 17 July 2008
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This week's report by Sir Alan Steer, the Government's chief adviser on school behaviour, contains some common-sense advice about how schools should tackle disciplinary problems. Paradoxically, although teachers have the legal right to stop and search pupils for illegal weapons (granted as a result of an earlier report by Sir Alan), they do not have the legal power to search for alcohol, drugs or stolen property. Many people assumed that they did have the right to search their pupils for these items but, as has been demonstrated by Sir Alan, they do not. His earlier recommendation to give a legal carte blanche to search for weapons raised the question of what would happen if – during a search for them – teachers found alcohol or drugs. Surely they would not simply mutter, "Oh, drugs and alcohol are OK because they're beyond my powers"? So, Sir Alan's recommendation that the legal scope of searches should be extended is welcome and not surprisingly has been accepted by ministers.
But it does throw up a problem. As Sir Alan, head of Seven Kings School in the east London borough of Redbridge, has noted in discussing the issue of juvenile knife crime this week, for many youngsters schools are a safe haven compared with the world outside the school gates. Many teachers might therefore feel that it would jeopardise the relationship they have established with their pupils if they were seen to be constantly using their search powers and acting in a policing manner towards them. The solution to this dilemma is available in many inner-city schools serving the most troubled communities, which already have a police presence on site.
Head teachers could ask the police representative at their schools to carry out the search for them. In other circumstances, there needs to be training for teachers to accompany this new power so that it is carried out in a sensitive manner. Otherwise it won't be effective. As most headteachers will recognise, a heavy attitude towards searches is likely to prove counter-productive in the long run for the stability of the school. Thankfully, this appears to have been recognised by both Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Sir Alan.
