Education Department reviewing code of conduct amid concerns about violence in schools

Education Minister Becky Druhan says she's asked her department to review the student code of conduct as the teachers' union and opposition MLAs raise concerns about an increase of violent incidents in schools.

The NDP recently released the results of access to information requests showing there were 17,234 physical violence incidents in the 2022-23 school year.

According to the documents, the Education Department defines physical violence as "using force, gesturing or inciting others to use force to injure a member of the school community." It also notes that 77 per cent of incidents last year were in classes up to Grade 6, "while students are learning about appropriate interpersonal interactions, self-regulation and other important social emotional skills."

Druhan said she wants the code of conduct reviewed to ensure it supports staff when they're addressing incidents to make sure schools remain safe places.

"We need to be addressing them and addressing them continuously," she told reporters at Province House.

"If there's any violence in schools, we need to be working on eliminating it because it's not acceptable."

The documents the NDP released show that the numbers for 2022-23 are the highest they've been in six years. There were 13,991 incidents during the 2017-18 school year and 14,864 the following years. Numbers dropped off during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when most students were doing virtual learning.

Ryan Lutes, president of the Nova Scotia Teachers' Union, said the numbers reflect the experience he and other teachers have observed in schools. He said people should be shocked by the increase and that "it's incumbent on government to do something about it."

Lutes welcomed Druhan's plan to have the code of conduct reviewed, but said it's one part of "a very complicated puzzle."

"What I want to see from the minister and from government is action on taking a wholesale, system-wide approach to how we can make our classrooms and schools as safe as we can," he told reporters at Province House.

A national issue

Lutes said the rise in violence cannot be attributed to any single thing, but said factors include: mental health problems stemming from the pandemic and a lack of services to deal with them; increased poverty; and the need to balance appropriate consequences with supporting student needs.

"And so all of those things are creating this untenable situation where we see [an] increase in violent incidents — and serious violent incidents."

It's an issue across the country, he said.

"It's a failure of not just this government and not just previous governments in Nova Scotia, but of governments all across the nation to take this issue seriously and to put forward a plan that really makes kids as safe as possible [and] makes teachers and educators as safe as they can be."

Druhan said she is scheduled to meet with Lutes on Wednesday and expects the issue to be a topic of conversation.