A shocking report has revealed that teachers at a school in Sydney’s western suburbs have been threatened with violence, rape and murder by their own students.
The school, Granville Boys High School, has been the subject of inquests and local investigations after it was revealed by the Parramatta Advertiser that “threats and intimidation are routine”.
The report also revealed that teachers, out fear of their own safety, have taken to traveling in groups to and from school.
In interviews with The Advertiser, a number of teachers came forward to say that they had been threatened verbally by the students.
“They make threats, they say they’ll kill us, they’ll bash us,” said one female teacher, “They say things like, ‘I’ll meet you down a dark alley and rape you’; ‘Wait ’til I see you after school, Miss’. And it’s males and females that they say that to, it’s not just the female (staff).”
In a report published two weeks ago about the same school, another “source close to the school” claimed that the children run wild, lighting fires in the frontyard of the school and in the bins on campus.
“Kids are building fires in the front yard regularly, there were two on Thursday,” the source said, “A few weeks ago a bin was set alight and the melted plastic was hoisted up the flag pole. It’s a circus.”
“They’re carrying knives (and) we have no control over them,” said another teacher, “What’s to stop them from killing one of us?”
But the teachers’ claims of violence within the school are not unfounded.
The same report also revealed in 2011, a 16-year-old student was stabbed multiple times in the stomach during a schoolyard fight with two other student, and since then children at Granville regularly bring knives to school, which they trade and swap between themselves.
Whilst some claim to trade knives for “safety”, others have claimed it’s because the kids want to feel “cool” and “gangster”.
“The students are trying to be gangster, I guess they feel safer carrying a knife they need to feel hectic,” said a man whose brother attends the school, “But you see what happens in the news, it’s not a surprise that they’re bringing knives.”
After police were called to the school on reports of an armed student, the school launched into action, implementing a “knife amnesty”, where children could turn in their knives voluntarily and anonymously, without fear of retribution.
“A few weeks ago, the school learned a number of students were in possession of knives,” a department spokesman told The Advertiser, “These knives were procured outside of school and no threats were made. The school has been working closely with local community organisations on this issue.”
NSW police confirmed that seven knives were surrendered, but it is unclear as to how many still remain.
Two students were suspended for having possession of knives in June.
There have also been claims that students at the school are in possession of methamphetamines or “ice”, as well as “pills” and other illegal pharmaceuticals, prompting students to refer to themselves as “streets pharmacists”.
During the writing of the report, The Advertiser reportedly spoke to over 20 students, four of whom claimed that they knew of students who has brought drugs to school, either to use or to distribute.
However, at this point, no seizures of drugs or any other illegal substances have been recorded.
