Posts Tagged ‘Parental Consent’

In many of todays papers it has been reported that the Government is to give teachers new powers to enable them to use force against unruly pupils and also give them extended search powers.

Another ploy.

Teachers already have the power to use force IN school. Its is everyones Common Law right to use force to protect themselves others and property. The Education Act mentions teachers using force including restrictive and pain compliance techniques in exceptional circumstances.

Teachers have greater powers of search than Security Officers and can search without parental consent and without the individuals consent if the believe weapons are being carried or concealed.

In all of this Article 2 of the Human Rights Act provides that there is a positive obligation to preserve life so by not defending themselves others and property and using their powers of search they could be in breach of the Human Rights Act.

Teachers won’t exercise these rights as they have not had training. The buck stops with the Education Minister and Local Education Authorities as they should tell schools to provide training for staff. This is a fundamental part of Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (employers must provide information training and supervision)

In deciding whether to train or not its a simple question that has to be answered. Is it reasonably foreseeable that at some stage teachers are going to be victims of violence (threatened abused or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work) the answer has to be yes. Training must be given to reduce risk.

Ironically teachers are not trained due to the belief that they cannot restrain or indeed use pain on children. But the payouts for injuries and law suits that local authorities face for NOT protecting the Health Safety and Welfare of Teachers far surpass the cost of training. Sent via BlackBerry® from BT