Wairarapa schools are safe places say principals, despite a national call by the teachers' union for bag checks and increased safety measures.
A teacher stabbed by a student in Te Puke and a knife incident in Hamilton last week spurred calls by the Post Primary Teachers Association to tackle increasing violence
in schools.
But Geoff Shepherd, principal of Greytown's Kuranui College, said the fuss was a media beat-up and, while behavioural issues were on the rise, violence was not.
''There have been no incidents of violence against a teacher in this school, definitely no injuries or weapons use.'' Kuranui had experienced an isolated incident, he said, referring to a BB gun brought to school two years ago, but he hadn't heard of recent incidents in Wairarapa schools. He questioned how big a problem it was nationwide.
''[There's violence] possibly in some large urban areas, I read those reports and I think it must be happening, but it's not in the rural areas. I think teachers certainly have a more difficult job to do in terms of student behaviour. It has been steadily changing over the past couple of decades but in terms of violence, no.''
Wairarapa College principal Mike Schwass said he had dealt with more schoolyard fights but couldn't say whether classroom violence was on the rise.
''There may have been an increase in the number of scuffles, in terms of fights in schools, but we have dealt with those as we normally do,'' he said.
Asked about a solution to behavioural and violence problems, Mr Schwass said no easy answer existed. ''How big is your chequebook?''
Greater Wellington Principals Association chair John Russell said legislation was a simplistic response and violence was always unpredictable. ''You are never going to cater for the extreme outbursts of a kid who suddenly decides to bring out a knife.''
While a student's track record could be looked at, a lot of behaviour wasn't transparent to school staff.
''The most unlikely kids will attempt suicide, and then everybody scratches their head and goes 'how on earth did that happen?'''
