Schools to bring in 'airport screening'

Graeme Paton
The Telegraph
Feb. 23, 2007

Teachers are being told to search children suspected of carrying knives and guns in a new move against teenage violence.

Staff will be trained in how to "pat down" pupils' clothing and check the pockets of those suspected of smuggling weapons. Teachers will also be able to use "reasonable force" to search unco-operative individuals. Schools are also advised to randomly screen entire classes or year groups using airport-style security scanners.

Jim Knight, the schools minister, has warned of gangs infiltrating schools in major cities, including London, Manchester and Birmingham and there was widespread concern after three teenage boys were shot dead in a wave of violence in south London.

From May, head teachers in England will be able to search pupils without parents' consent under the Violent Crime Reduction Act.

Draft guidance, published yesterday by the Department for Education, reveals how the powers should be exercised.

Teachers will be able to search any pupil merely on the suspicion that they are armed. Many innocent children are likely to be caught up in spot-checks which may prompt legal challenges from civil liberty groups.

Suspected gang members should be targeted. "Where there is reliable information that members of a group or gang habitually carry knives or other weapons unlawfully and wear a distinctive item of clothing or other means of identification . . . [that] may provide reasonable grounds to search the pupil," the guidance says.

Ministers recommend that two members of staff – the same sex as the child – are present and that searches take place away from other pupils. Teachers can "pat down a person's clothing without directly touching the body" and can search pockets if pupils refuse to hand over suspected weapons. If the pupil refuses to remove a coat, teachers can "use reasonable force", although they cannot ask pupils to remove trousers, skirts, shirts or blouses.

Staff should be given training, costing around Ł50 per teacher, on how to search and use techniques to calm pupils and reduce the risk of violence escalating.

Head teachers are also given advice on how to use walk-through or hand-held metal detectors, which can be bought for as little as Ł30.