Student assaults hit record high as overall school discipline falls

Overall school discipline cases are falling – but physical assaults between students have reached a record high, with principals warning schools are dealing with more serious behaviour.

Ministry of Education data obtained by Newstalk ZB under the Official Information Act shows stand-downs, suspensions, exclusions and expulsions all declined last year, down from post-pandemic peaks.

Stand-downs have fallen for the second year running, dropping to 29,002 last year after hitting a record 30,708 in 2023.

Suspensions declined from 3,278 in 2024 to 2,814 last year, while exclusions fell from 1,203 to 1,060 in the same timeframe.

Expulsions also dropped, from 178 to 141.

But disciplinary action for physical assaults between students reached its highest level since records began in 2000, with 11,400 cases in 2025.

They accounted for 34% of all disciplinary cases last year – overtaking continual disobedience, which was the most common reason for discipline when records began.

The Ministry of Education cautioned the figures were still preliminary and had yet to be finalised.

Group General Manager Operational Standards and Support Helen Hurst said the data reflects schools’ disciplinary responses to student behaviour, rather than behaviour itself.

“Schools may respond differently to similar incidents, so changes in SSEE numbers should not be interpreted as direct measures of changes in student behaviour.”

Palmerston North’s Queen Elizabeth College principal Chris Moller says schools are dealing with increasingly complex behaviour.

“And if you’re talking about something like stand-downs for violence, then that could be a by-product of mental health issues. It’s not always. Sometimes it’s just kids that don’t know how to respond to challenges and they resort to those sorts of measures.”

He said it’s possible the tolerance of schools has also reduced.

“So, schools are not making allowances for kids that are fighting. They’re taking serious action or there is more of that action.”

Otago Secondary Schools Principals’ Association chair Barbara Agnew agreed that schools are getting far more complex cases than 10-15 years ago.

She said teachers did not have enough support to manage this kind of behaviour.

“And you know [when there’s] one teacher with 28 kids, it’s hard for that teacher to do that all the time, every day.”
Agnew said her school, Queen’s High School, had doubled teacher aide support over the past six years, but demand continued to outstrip resources.

“I could have twice as many as I’ve got now and still not meet the need that I see.”

She said many of these incidents involve a small group of students, but she’s concerned children now feel more comfortable pushing back at teachers - a behaviour she says was rare early in her career.

“And it’s no longer just verbal.”

“We need to be able to offer much more small group situations. We need to have really good specialist behaviour support. We need higher counselling.”

Moller, who is also chair of the Manawatū Principals’ Association, said one of the biggest changes during his career had been an increase in students assaulting staff.

Stand-downs relating to physical assaults on staff reached a record 1304 cases last year, making up 4.4% of all stand-downs.

“And I think that comes down to having children that have got mental health issues in your schools and it’s a response from them that we are not really used to seeing," Moller said.

“It’s acts of violence where they might put their hands on a teacher.”

“And I’ve [had] 40 years in the education game, but we’re getting more of kids thinking it’s acceptable to handle staff, putting their hands on staff, and that’s a change.”

But Moller said it was important to recognise the data captured a wide range of incidents.

“Maybe two kids have had a dispute and the classic one is a basketball game at lunchtime and a bit of skin gets removed and it starts to get heated.”

Jaime Cunningham is a Christchurch-based reporter with a focus on education and general news. She joined Newstalk ZB in 2023 after working as a sports reporter at the Christchurch Star.