ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the extent to which violence has become common in schools in the United Kingdom (UK) and elsewhere. The statistics collated by the BBC show that theft was the most common offence, with 13,003 incidents reported. There were 9,319 reports of violent crime, 4,106 reports of criminal damage or arson and 754 drugs-related offences. A key concern is that violence seems to be increasing amongst primary-aged (4–11-year-old) children. It is unfortunate that public perception seems to be at odds with reality. It is doubly unfortunate that this has been allowed to drive policy and funding. The debate about whether young people are vulnerable or dangerous will continue to run, but there is no doubt that perceptions of inflated levels of violence in schools have harmful effects. Dealing with challenging behaviour in isolation from other factors removes the links among behaviour, motivation and learning and can result in an impoverished curriculum.
