Schools must be safe for everyone, says children’s commissioner

Schools should not be turned into a “battleground” around potential safety measures, the key figure overseeing child rights in Wales has said.

Roccio Cifuentes, Children’s Commissioner for Wales, was speaking after a 14-year-old girl was convicted of the attempted murder of three people during a school stabbing in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, last April.

Ms Cifuentes said she agreed with the chief inspector of the Welsh education watchdog, Estyn, about not having a blanket exclusion policy.

“Schools have to be a safe space for everyone, pupils and teachers alike,” Ms Cifuentes said.

The incident has prompted others to suggest schools should consider searching pupils and employing security guards.

Ms Cifuentes said the Ammanford case was “sad and shocking… and thankfully very rare”.

“I overall agree with what the chief inspector for schools has said, about this being a nuanced and complex issue,” she told BBC Radio Wales’ Sunday Supplement.

“We can’t turn schools into a battleground,” she said, adding that teachers and children are “under significant pressure”.

“Maybe they are feeling under pressure to, on occasion, take weapons into schools. We need to start with understanding and talking.”

Ms Cifuentes said she would not like to see a “punitive or highly securitised approach” in schools.

“I think that would be very detrimental to children and young people and their wellbeing.”

Ms Cifuentes also said the ongoing debate about the use of phones in schools was an issue she was aware of but that a “whole society approach” was needed.

A new report by the University of Birmingham suggested that a ban made very little difference in improving grades or mental wellbeing.

But it did suggest spending longer on phones and social media in general was linked to lower grades, poor sleep, disruptive behaviour and a lack of exercise.

“This is not just about what happens in schools,” said Ms Cifuentes.

“We have new rules coming in to place, through the Online Safety Act, which will place greater responsibility on social media companies to keep children more safe online, and parents and families have a role to play.

“We need not only to potentially restrict the use of phones, but also need to offer young people real alternatives and we need to be talking to children more as well.”