Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to take action against youth violence in Scottish schools after footage emerged of a sickening attack in a classroom.
The disturbing video shows a girl at Waid Academy in Anstruther, Fife, launching a violent assault on another female pupil, by dragging her off of her chair and then punching and kicking her on the head.
The victim tries to cover herself while lying on the floor. The 14-second clip, filmed on Monday, ends when a teacher shouts at the attacker to stop.
The attack has been reported to Police Scotland, who are also investigating a second incident that took place on the same day.
North East Fife MSP Willie Rennie, who represents Anstruther, was deeply disturbed by the footage and said he couldn't get the "ugly scene out of his head" at First Minister's Questions on Thursday.
Mr Rennie said: "Last evening I watched a social media video of one pupil attacking another at Waid Academy in my constituency. To be frank, I wish I hadn't, I can't get it out of my head.
"It was an ugly scene. Earlier this year, Heather Hughes, then president of the EIS, warned about increasing violence in our schools. I'm supporting staff, the council and the school locally but what action is the government taking across the country?"
Nicola Sturgeon promised to watch the video saying, "I think it is important that we do have a full understanding of issues like this".
She added that "violence is never acceptable and safety of pupils and staff is paramount" and said Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville had met council chiefs to discuss the issue.
Ms Sturgeon said: "We will continue to consider fully what additional steps we can take to support councils in making it very clear that violence is unacceptable and taking action to support young people and teachers who may face such violence."
Headteacher Scott Duncan said he had written to parents to reassure them after the video emerged and insisted that "appropriate and proportionate consequences are always put in place".
He said: “Police Scotland are aware of both incidents at the school this week and we are working with our local community police who are providing support. "
He added: “I have written to parents to reassure them about our processes and more importantly about the experience young people have at our school.
“When incidents of fighting are reported to us they are fully investigated and we have very robust policies and procedures in school to deal with this kind of behaviour. Appropriate and proportionate consequences are always put in place.
“We work closely with families to support young people, making sure they feel safe and help them reflect and work on escalated behaviours. We also work with a wide range of partners and support agencies to support our young people including DAPL, Clued Up, the local community police and counselling and educational psychologists.
“We will continue to work with our young people to talk about the impact of such incidents, what to do if they see such incidents and remind them all of the supports that are in place in school should they wish to speak to someone about any concerns they may have. We will also continue to share with them information about the law on social media and responsible use of social media.
“We don’t tolerate behaviour of this kind in our school and I can’t stress enough that this kind of behaviour is not indicative of the vast majority of pupils at Waid Academy.”
Inspector Murray Gibson, Community Inspector for North East Fife, said: “We have become aware of two incidents involving pupils at a school in Anstruther, which both took place on Monday, 16 January.
“Officers have liaised with the school and will be carrying out further enquiries into these incidents. We will continue to work closely with our education counterparts throughout this process.”
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