Local tragedy
A local Catholic boys college has had one of its students killed during a knife attack. One of my sons went there, I know the Principal and often meet staff at social functions.
I feel for the parents and the college, as does the whole community.
So sad!
Bloody knives – what ever happened to fisticuffs?
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Yes – a complete tragedy.
The impact of this kind of trauma goes way beyond that of the loss of the victim’s life and the devastation of his family. For many at that school, the world has changed forever.
The saddest part is that the media reaction serves to inspire further violence – it feeds on itself. Knives used to be unheard of in schools in Australia – now they’re relatively common.
Let’s hope there isn’t an over-reaction and we don’t end up with school gate screening and security guards in schools.
I agree, we don’t want security at schools but we do need to say “If you are caught with a certain type of knife at school you are expelled”
Isn’t it illegal to carry a knife?
Many years ago (1970s), my brother attended Bankstown Boys’ High School. My mum, a teacher, was speaking with the headmaster at some teacher function and the headmaster complained about the knife culture then. He said that the problem was that if you confiscated the knife from the student then called the parent in for a discussion as soon as you returned the knife to the parent, after the delivery of a suitable admonishment and advice that knives were not to be carried at school, the knife was given back to the student, in front of the headmaster.
A losing battle.
Maybe if the headmaster had done the right thing and destroyed every knife he found then the situation may have been stabalized
And yet the educational system refuses to involve Police. I find it very disconcerting that the system avoids what appears to me to be a very natural progression….chat….lack of affirmative action…..report to Police… for what is actually a criminal matter. I bet that after the head found little back up from the parents he then decided not to take action. From that point on the students at the school would believe that they had a green light to carry weapons.
Destruction of weapons even by Police requires an executive instruction or in some cases a court order. Common sense doesn’t enter into it sadly. If the item is not dealt with in a legal sense then the person doing the right thing is open to charges of theft or destruction of property. “Funny” world we live in isn’t it?
Bob
Sad thing is that this was happening in the 1970s. My brother was in high school from 1975-1979 I think.
(Born in 62.)
I suspect the headmaster wouldn’t have been allowed to destroy “student property”.