Principals say they’ve been blindsided by a state government trial, that would put youth offenders wearing ankle bracelets in Melbourne classrooms.
Up to 50 teenagers will be given school placements as part of a government trial where repeat youth offenders are tracked with electronic monitoring devices.
9News understands if youth offenders meet certain criteria they’ll be placed at schools that have experience teaching similar students.
The Victorian opposition condemned the proposal.
“Not only compromising the safety of students in those schools, the safety of staff but also putting additional pressures on principals and teachers,” Shadow Education Minister Jess Wilson said.
The backlash has been swift from principals and former police officers too.
“They’re anxious they’re nervous, they’re worried,” Australian Principals Federation President Tina King said.
“It raises so many concerns around safety, support measures, risk assessments.”
Teachers, justice workers, the government and the opposition agree education is vital to rehabilitate offenders and stop them from offending in the first place.
Paul Bourke is the CEO of the Les Twentymen Foundation, which supports teens, including those on bail, in schools across Melbourne.
“Probably 80 per cent of the young people we work with have no further contact with law enforcement,” Bourke said.
The government’s Youth Crime Prevention Program has only seen a 29 per cent reduction in re-offending.
“It doesn’t seem from their program that they’re in-school youth workers, they’re working from I assume a youth justice facility somewhere,” Bourke said.
“We will always prioritise the safety of staff and students,” a spokesperson for the government said in a statement.
“There is strict criteria when determining who is suitable for the electronic monitoring program including checks to reduce the risk of the young person reoffending.”
The trial will begin in April and is set to run for two years.
