It takes three teachers to restrain violent five year olds!!! Director general education Western Australia

The director general of education - Sharyn O'Neill - in the state of Western Australia - has this to say about 5 year olds in schools. She says that it takes three teachers to restrain some five year olds and pre primary students are more violent, they kick, punch etc. Sharyn O'Neill - the director general of education - was on talkback radio yesterday speaking about five year olds being socialised by other five year olds in school. They have lowered the compulsory schooling age to four years old. I have two three year old grand-daughters who will have to - by law - enrol in school next year. They kick and punch when they lack the verbal skills to have a reasoned argument. In my opinion they are way too young to be going to school. My grandchildren are socialised by the adults around them. Their parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles etc. These adults filter them out into the world at large; they accept that small children do kick and punch when they are frustrated but also help them to learn that that is not acceptable behaviour and teach them better ways to communicate. To me this says that the teachers and the department do not understand very small children. Shouldn't they be outside playing instead of being confined to the simulacra of the classroom? 

Pre-primary violence on the rise

EXCLUSIVE Bethany Hiatt Education Editor, The West Australian Updated May 17, 2013, 2:45 am

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Public schools handed out 167 suspension notices to pre-primary students as young as five last year for punching, kicking and biting other children or their teachers - twice as many as in 2011.
Education Department chief Sharyn O'Neill says it is proof that parents and society, not schools alone, are to blame for a rising tide of violence.
Suspension and exclusion figures released today also reveal that the number of pre-primary students suspended for physically assaulting students or teachers surged from 52 to 77 - with eight children barred from classes more than four times.
It took up to three teachers to restrain a child during some incidents, which resulted in injuries such as bruises and bites.
In an opinion piece in _The West Australian _today, Ms O'Neill said it was "alarming" that some children as young as five were "kicking, punching, biting and injuring staff and other students".
"These children are new to school, yet they bring from home a range of behavioural and sometimes mental health issues that teachers are forced to manage," she said. "To blame schools for such behaviour misses the point.
"Families, society and neighbourhoods are all involved - and must play a part in the solutions."
Ms O'Neill was concerned that high-quality teaching applicants would think twice about becoming teachers because they would be blamed for society's problems.
The data shows the total number of students suspended from public schools fell slightly from 11,817 in 2011 to 11,715 last year. But the number of suspension notices issued rose from 25,136 to 25,988 because of an increase in students being suspended more than once.
More than one-third of all suspensions - 9727 notices - were for physical assault or intimidation of students or staff. Fewer students were expelled for extreme behaviour, with 25 excluded last year compared with 47 in 2011.
Ms O'Neill said it was not surprising that some students came to school "predisposed towards aggression" if they saw aggressive behaviour at home, were not taught self-control and lived in a community where violence was common.
She said schools did their best to teach students respect for others.
"Ultimately, parents need to take responsibility for their child's development and behaviour," Ms O'Neill said.
WA Council of State School Organisations president Kylie Catto said the increase in students being suspended more than once indicated that giving them time off school was not working and other corrective measures should be tried.