John MacDonald: Weapons in schools are the canary in the mine

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

If we choose to ignore or downplay this new information out today about kids taking weapons to school, we’ll be doing it at our peril.

Because what do you hear people say time and time again when something terrible happens? These are people in the news who might be commenting about a stabbing or a shooting, or something like that. What is it we hear them say time and time again?

“We never thought this sort of thing would happen here.”

We hear people in the United States saying it whenever there’s something like a school shooting. And you would think people over there wouldn’t be surprised, given it happens so often.

And we heard it here after the mosque shootings – which had a lot more credence because it’s true, we never imagined something like that happening here.

But this is why I’m sitting up and paying attention to these stats that have been released to under the Official Information Act.

Because we are kidding ourselves if we think that an increase in the number of kids being caught with weapons at school is anything other than the proverbial canary in the mine.

Last year, 526 students were stood down, suspended, or excluded for using or having a weapon at school. About 80% up on the numbers in 2018.

And I bet there’ll be no shortage of people of a certain age saying today that they used to carry a pocketknife around with them when they were young and it wasn't a problem.

But there’s a key difference between then and now, which is why I think we ignore these numbers at our peril.

And it’s got nothing to do with the weapons themselves. It’s all about the way society has changed and the attitudes and thinking of the kids carrying these weapons and the lives some of them lead.

Schools are like a slice of society. They’re not little bubbles that are totally isolated from the rest of their communities. Even if there hadn’t been any increase in the number of kids being caught with weapons – any amount of weapons getting past the school gate is way more concerning now than it might have been in the past because of that shift in attitude.

When you were a kid, if you snuck something into school that you shouldn’t have —a pocket knife or whatever— I bet it never crossed your mind that it might be useful if someone started giving you a hard time or something. These days, some people do think like that.

Example: in May last year, we had that young guy fatally stabbed by another school kid at the bus stop in Dunedin. The guy with the knife was charged with murder but was, eventually, found guilty of manslaughter.

Granted, it didn't happen at school, but it just as easily could.

These days, people not only have weapons, they’re also not afraid of using them.

That’s the big difference here. And that’s why we need to pay attention to these numbers out today. Because here in New Zealand we are brilliant at sticking our heads in the sand, thinking bad stuff won’t happen.

And we need to wake up and start doing more than just assume that schools have got this under control.

I see principals are saying today that they could do with a bit more support, in terms of the Ministry of Education putting more money into providing guidance for schools on how to deal with the issue of kids and weapons.

But that’s not enough.

We will never be able to wind the clock back and change this attitude shift that has been happening in recent years, where we have people carrying weapons who aren't afraid to use them.

Which means that we will never be able to stop some school kids from thinking that it’s perfectly fine to leave home in the morning with some sort of weapon in their bag or their pocket.

But we can do something about it once they arrive at school. And if that means random bag or pocket searches, then so be it.

Because, if we don’t, all the people with their heads in the sand will be rabbiting on about things happening here that they never imagined happening here.

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