Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Taminmin College Board chair Beverley Ratahi say reinstating school based constables would help prevent fighting and anti-social behaviour

Transcript

Taminmin College Board chair Beverley Ratahi say reinstating school based constables would help prevent fighting and anti-social behaviour · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Last week we were made aware of some pretty shocking
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: vision which emerged of a teenager being bashed by girls,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: well appearingly from to mid Min College. Now, in the footage,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the victim is seen on the ground being kicked and
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: punched and having her hair pulled. We spoke to her
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  Speaker 1: mum on Friday, who said that her daughter was at
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  Speaker 1: breaking point. Now the Education Department yesterday confirmed that support
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: was being provided to the victim. Now joining me on
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  Speaker 1: the line is Beverly Ratahi, who is indeed the chair
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: of to mid Min College Board. Good morning to you, Beverly.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, good morning Katie, and I'm interstate at the moment.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: I've been overseas in inter state, so I have been
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  Speaker 2: inundated with contact from parents, community and staff about the incident. Which, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I haven't seen that particular vision. That was from what
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  Speaker 2: it's been described to me in context of other incidentss
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  Speaker 2: over the last twelve months, I believe it's sickening and
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  Speaker 2: disgraceful conduct, but actually not as the price because as
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  Speaker 2: we know, and I've just had a senator price on
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  Speaker 2: your show, these youth behavior issues have been escalating more
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  Speaker 2: broadly in our community. You know, over the last twelve
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  Speaker 2: months in particular, probably the last six months. So schools
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  Speaker 2: are just reflective of what's happening more broadly.
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  Speaker 1: So Beverly, you know what's your reaction. I know you've
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  Speaker 1: said you've been getting plenty of messages and contact from
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  Speaker 1: people as you've been away. You know what have they
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  Speaker 1: been saying to you as the chair after seeing that
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  Speaker 1: vision and getting a better understanding of what unfolded.
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  Speaker 2: Well, so it is important to note it did happen
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  Speaker 2: off school grounds. But I do understand there were some students.
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  Speaker 2: But you know, there's a range of procedures I think
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  Speaker 2: that really need looking at. So the first one is,
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  Speaker 2: at the moment the Department of Education is able to
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: override the advice of the principle in regard to suspension. Now,
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  Speaker 2: anybody is sitting in an office who does not know
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  Speaker 2: a students, their family or the contexts just should not
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  Speaker 2: do that. The principal and the senior staff of the
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  Speaker 2: school and the teachers know best what's going on. So
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  Speaker 2: that's the first thing that we need to look at.
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  Speaker 2: But the other thing is there are some students who
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  Speaker 2: would wear a suspension as a badge of honor. There
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  Speaker 2: should be no student on suspension who was able to
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  Speaker 2: sit at home for whatever amount of time. If anything,
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  Speaker 2: they should actually be involved in programs. You pick them
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  Speaker 2: up at six o'clock in the morning and get them
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  Speaker 2: out to do some exercise, do their school work with them,
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  Speaker 2: tommunity service and do some of that important hard hitting
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  Speaker 2: work that needs to be done. Take them to the hospital,
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  Speaker 2: show them. You know the effects. We all know what's
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  Speaker 2: happened into state with coward punctes. We know it's going
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  Speaker 2: to end up there's going to be a tragedy. So yesterday,
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  Speaker 2: while I was traveling through South Australia, I tuned into Parliament.
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  Speaker 2: The amount of times when I could get signs, the
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  Speaker 2: amount of times I heard the words from Labor members
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  Speaker 2: and Minister's prevention, early intervention diversion. Well, this is where
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  Speaker 2: we need start, not when kids are heading for john Dale.
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  Speaker 2: We need that now and we have the gaps ripped
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  Speaker 2: out of services to schools. As you know, I have
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  Speaker 2: been on your show how many times over the last
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  Speaker 2: couple of years about school boys constables and the advice
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  Speaker 2: I've had from staff in regard to last week is
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  Speaker 2: very much. If we had had our comfortables, this would
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  Speaker 2: not have had. Now, that's not a wake up call
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  Speaker 2: to the files labor government to say reinstate the constables
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  Speaker 2: will it should be. But we've also had cuts to
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  Speaker 2: counselor services over the last couple of years. You know,
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  Speaker 2: while these girls are on suspension, what's the the Department
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  Speaker 2: Central Counselors doing in regard to girls programs? There's all
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: these resources. Don't wait till these kids get onto the
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  Speaker 2: street and do cower punches and kill somebody. Get them
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  Speaker 2: into schools.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Beverly, some people listening this morning are going to think,
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  Speaker 1: could the school have done more to either prevent this
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  Speaker 1: from happening or you know, to ensure that there was
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  Speaker 1: adequate repercussions for what they've done.
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  Speaker 2: Well, from what I understand is that the students involved
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  Speaker 2: have received the maximum suspension, as absolutely they should. No
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  Speaker 2: schools are our teaching staff, our staff at schools, they
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  Speaker 2: are all run raggits already. We need some additional supports
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  Speaker 2: put into schools to support them. Yeah, I think again,
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  Speaker 2: I've been non about we've had overcrowding at school this
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  Speaker 2: year since we've since the fire has taken out of building.
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  Speaker 2: I understand these things. The discussion again recently about taking
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  Speaker 2: those amountables before we can be confirmed that Maxisteine will
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  Speaker 2: be online. We've got issues with the school bus services
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: because I think every day I hear something as well.
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  Speaker 2: I've heard cheesy epiric on saying there's a lack of drivers.
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  Speaker 2: So what that means is teenagers at the end of
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  Speaker 2: the day having to mingle, you know, their loitering around longer,
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  Speaker 2: waiting for buses. So all these factors are building up
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  Speaker 2: to create you know, a hotbed of teenage emotions, you know,
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  Speaker 2: getting together the opportunities for the clique. You know, we
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  Speaker 2: need to we need to absolutely be getting services in
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  Speaker 2: and whether that means if kids are waiting longer at
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  Speaker 2: school half hour in the afternoon, what other services and
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  Speaker 2: programs could be at school to you know, to actually
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  Speaker 2: diffuse some of this conflict.
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  Speaker 1: Yea deadly you know, even when we spoke to the
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  Speaker 1: mother of this young girl on the show on Friday
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  Speaker 1: and had spoken about you know, her mental health at
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  Speaker 1: this point in time, the department has said that they're
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  Speaker 1: providing support. But do you think that if there was
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  Speaker 1: a counselor at the school, and if there was support
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  Speaker 1: that's actually at the school, that would make a difference.
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  Speaker 2: Well, and we've been so concerned over the last twelve
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  Speaker 2: months that the board has actually implored our own school
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  Speaker 2: counselor I should have another one because the recommendation is
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  Speaker 2: one counselor at five hundred students. But yeah, there absolutely
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  Speaker 2: does need to be additional support. I know the department
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  Speaker 2: has been trying to recruit, but if you can't get counselors,
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  Speaker 2: you need to start looking at what other services you
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  Speaker 2: can do, you know, and whether that's remote Kelly health
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  Speaker 2: type thing with preventive programs. But you can't just say well,
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  Speaker 2: we're trying to recruit and we can't. You've got to
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  Speaker 2: actually look at them. Innovatives, age along flexible to look
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  Speaker 2: at them. So you know, the one thing if the
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  Speaker 2: Files Labor government wanted to actually do one thing that
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  Speaker 2: would have an immediate and positive effect on youth prime
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  Speaker 2: youth behavior diversion would be degree in shapeful those comfortable
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  Speaker 2: and it defied logic Katie that I think next week
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  Speaker 2: the Parliament will be debating the amendments to the increase
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  Speaker 2: in the age of Criminal Responsibility from ten to twelve,
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  Speaker 2: and the focus of that is actually right, you diverting
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  Speaker 2: to you, and so I'm going. If you want to
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  Speaker 2: do early intervention, you can't do much earlier than getting
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  Speaker 2: services in skod Well.
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  Speaker 1: Beverly Ratihi, the chair of the Timan Men College Board,
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  Speaker 1: I appreciate your time this morning. Thank you for coming
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  Speaker 1: on and speaking with us.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: Not a problem at all, Katie, thank you, thank you.
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  Speaker 2: Have a great day.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: Thank you.