David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)

I welcome this timely motion. Unlike some speakers on the Government side, I believe we cannot talk about this important topic often enough. The more often we debate it, the better. When we talk about indiscipline, we do not talk about normal exuberance or other normal behaviour. We are talking about serious transgressions. As I am a member of the Teachers Union of Ireland and have been a guidance counsellor and a teacher, I have a personal interest in the issue. For some time I worked as a guidance counsellor and as a home-school-community worker with students who presented the most difficult of problems which most Members of the House would never have encountered. I came across students who were suicidal. Nobody has dwelt on the impact of alcohol and drugs on some students.

I agree with speakers on all sides of the House who have emphasised that a small number of students are causing the problem. However, one student with a major disciplinary problem disrupts the whole school. As I have been there, I know what I am talking about. Such a student may engage with many different students and not just the members of a 24-student class group. He or she also engages with many different teachers and can cause considerable stress in the classroom.

According to a survey carried out by the ASTI in April 2004, 71% of teachers said they had taught classes in which some students engaged in continual disruptive behaviour. When the Minister speaks about the professional guidance of teachers, what proportion of that guidance is specifically dedicated to coping with disruptive behaviour? Much professional development of teachers relates to the subject matter and how it is taught. We need to take more notice of how teachers relate to students with personal problems and I hope this will be highlighted when the task force reports.

Members have spoken about why students misbehave, which at times relates to attention seeking. Often teachers are not trained in how to cope with attention seeking. They give attention to behaviour that is not appropriate, thereby reinforcing the behaviour. Some students are engaged in power struggles. Some students come in with the intention of being destructive and not just disruptive. Some students have given up completely. I agree with an induction scheme for all young teachers and support along the way, as well as for older teachers, who at times come across issues for which they were not trained and that they have never before encountered. I note from other research that the stress that it is causing to teachers is leading to their wanting to leave the profession. The ASTI has said that 60% of male teachers with disability claims are suffering from depression and stress, and 53% of female teachers. That is a big issue which we must examine. I have seen teachers stressed and crying in staff rooms, totally at their wits' end. Many teachers are talking about leaving the profession as a result. I hope that when the task force report is published we will all attend again to debate and discuss it fully, instead of coming to the House pretending that everything is all right, since that is not the case.

The student council issue has been mentioned. Many areas have no such councils, and some recent research suggested that some boards of management and staff were not aware that a council existed in their school. In general, students did not have a good opinion of the student council. A great deal of work remains to be done. The other area on which we need to work — the two Ministers responsible are here — concerns youth service, which has a great part to play in helping students having problems or being disruptive by picking them up. However, that service is more or less non-existent in this country. Some pockets are doing a great deal of work, but much more could be done. It is not happening, but it must happen.

Years ago I came across a quote that stayed with me: schools cannot compensate for society. That is a fact. We cannot expect schools to solve all the problems. However, we must support teachers and pupils in school and in the work they are doing. One pupil in a class can upset everyone else if his or her behaviour is bad enough. What does one do when one has tried everything and expels a student who is perhaps 13 and a half years old? What happens to that student? Where does the student go? What supports are there for that student in provincial towns across the country? I challenge the Minister to tell us what supports she has for that student and his or her parents.

The home-school-community liaison project is fantastic, and it must be beefed up and supported. I applaud that. There is very little between us on this motion. It would be far better to have a unit for that disruptive student whom the system has failed. That student must receive the support or help he or she needs. It is not there currently. The student, one hopes, would eventually be integrated back into the mainstream. That is not happening. Instead, ever more pressure is being put on schools and teachers to retain the student in the system that has failed him or her. It is causing pressures all over the place — for principals, classroom teachers, the student and families. That must be addressed. I welcome the fact that a task force report is being published very soon. The Minister said it would be published in March. We are already in March, and I would like to see it tomorrow. Let us put it into the public domain so we can debate and discuss it. Why hide it? This issue is very important and must be debated many times over.

My colleague, Deputy English, spoke about bullying, which is going on all the time. With modern technology, text-messaging is creating a new avenue for insidious forms of bullying, and that must be addressed. This is so serious that we cannot debate it often enough. The futures of young people are at risk. We see many of them ending up in jail or in correction homes because systems have failed. As a Legislature, we must start to grapple with this now.

Drugs are causing serious problems. Of all the issues with which I dealt when teaching and with which my former colleagues are still dealing, the drugs scene in school is the most challenging and the most difficult to cope with. The child using or dealing is caught in a trap, perhaps not of his or her own making, but it is extraordinarily destructive. My colleagues and I have seen too many young people dying at 18, 19 or 20 years of age. The system failed them. There were and are very few safety nets once they have been expelled. Most principals do not want to expel students; it is the last thing that they want, since it causes such stress. We must re-examine, debate and discuss section 29. If it needs to be changed, so be it. I am disappointed at the defensive attitude of the Minister and the Government in this area, which we should open up. Let us shine a light on it, talk about it and discuss it. We should not be so defensive.

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