Increase in violent events. Increase in confiscated guns in schools. Increase in the number of teachers who are victims of violence.
Posted at 5:00 am
There are increasing signs that something is brewing in our schools. And far from being concentrated in Montreal, the problems affect the entire province.
We have no right to take the situation lightly. Young Quebecers need to thrive in a safe environment that encourages their academic, social and emotional development.
Last week, Liberal MP Marwah Rizqy released data obtained under the Access to Information Act.
The figures are incomplete but really worrying.
They show that in schools in the Sûreté du Québec territory, the “violent situations” that have attracted police attention have increased by more than 25% compared to the situation before the pandemic.
School confiscations of firearms are on the rise. In the 2021-2022 school year, 28 rifles or shotguns were confiscated from affected schools, compared to 13 in 2018-2019.
And although the current year is far from over, seizures of handguns – pistols or revolvers – are already setting a record (13 seizures).
The portrait is all the more surprising because it excludes several major Quebec cities that have their own police service, including Montreal, Quebec City and Laval.
In Montreal, too, assaults are on the rise in elementary and high schools (80 in 2022 versus 45 in 2017), according to data from Noovo.1
And the number of teachers and educators being compensated for “injuries resulting from workplace violence” nearly tripled between 2012 and 2021, according to Le Journal de Québec.2
All indicators are therefore on the rise. Quebec needs to encourage researchers to get a full picture of the situation and identify the root causes of this violence.
Then there is the question of the political answer. Education Minister Bernard Drainville has already promised a strategy against violence in schools, but without giving details. Liberal Marwah Rizqy is instead calling for an “order of initiative” that would allow MPs from all parties to question experts and interest groups in the field.
Before we reinvent the wheel, however, we need to realize that we already have tools in our trunk. In 2012, Bill 56 reinforced the Education Act by requiring all schools to have a plan to combat bullying and violence.
But some schools’ plans are much more effective than others, according to François Bowen, a professor at the University of Montreal and a researcher in the Research Chair in School Wellbeing and Violence Prevention. .
In this area we would welcome the development of a ‘ministerial guide’ which would disseminate good practice and allow schools to develop plans that take account of the latest evidence.
The issue of guns requires special attention as a vicious cycle can occur when young people arm themselves to retaliate against other armed young people.
Here, too, we are not starting from scratch. There is a frame of reference for framing the relationships between the school community and the police community that we can build on.3
One thing is for sure, we have on file a designated running back with the National Student Ombudsman who will take office next school year. The rise in school violence will force him to take his role…literally.