Thursday, 29 August 2024

School violence

Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (17:55): (1105) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education regarding the recent school lockdown at the Copperfield College Delahey campus. The action I seek from the minister is to implement stronger means of communication between schools and parents during lockdowns. I was recently contacted by constituents about the distressing incidents at Copperfield College on Friday last. They described a frightening scene where students were locked in a classroom, not allowed to use their phones and forced to use a sink as a toilet for nearly 2 hours while authorities dealt with suspects armed with knives. My constituent arrived at Copperfield to collect her daughter, who had finished class for the day, only to be turned away by school staff and informed the school was having a lockdown. Parents were waiting outside with little to no information until the lockdown ended. As parents in this situation, my constituents worried about the safety of their children.

The current means of communication between schools and parents are inadequate and out of touch. Victorians are currently facing a youth crime crisis, with a 30 per cent rise in youth crime cases over the past year. Providing stronger communication between parents and schools will not only give parents the information they need about their children’s whereabouts but will also make the school more accountable for the safety of their students on campus. So again I ask the minister: will you implement stronger means of communication between schools and parents during school lockdowns to provide parents with the assurance and knowledge that their children are safe when they go to school?