HEAD OF SECONDARY SCHOOL

Education in schools has two broad functions for students. The first function is to provide students with the opportunity to learn about a diverse range of subjects. The second function is to provide guidance and support surrounding social-emotional growth. One of the key aspects of improving social-emotional skills is engaging students in help seeking behaviours. While this can take many forms, one of the lesser considered aspects of help seeking behaviours is informing the teacher when a student has witnessed something they know is wrong.

Informing teachers about negative situations has always been an issue that school staff have had to deal with in the course of day to day interactions with students. When staff are investigating a matter or have witnessed an incident there is a need for students to be cooperative to ensure that the best outcomes are achieved. However, in recent times, student’s willingness to be proactive about speaking with teachers has significantly decreased. In correlation with this, there has been an increase in the use of the term Snitch and the fear of being labelled one.

Snitching is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as “secretly telling someone in authority that someone else has done something bad, often in order to cause trouble.” The term Snitch has become part of general student vernacular in recent years, and is a term specifically designed to target and shame those students who have informed a teacher about an incident they are not comfortable witnessing. This has severely hindered our capacity to respond effectively when there are issues between students. In fact, many students only speak up once an incident has been witnessed by a staff member. On many of these occasions, in comes to light that this negative behaviour has been ongoing, but due to fear of being labelled a snitch, they have not alerted staff.

This behaviour represents a negative cultural trend amongst teenagers that the College is looking to address head on. We encourage and support students to speak to us, not because they want to get someone else in trouble, but because they know that it is the right option to take. Our students understand right and wrong and they must be empowered to speak out regarding actions they know to be wrong. Speaking to a teacher not only represents help seeking behaviour from the student, but it also represents them looking to help the perpetrator. While our staff set boundaries, it is often the moral and ethical understanding of our students that help to enforce those boundaries within their year groups. Individuals do not like to go against the views of the group.

David Morrison, a Lieutenant general in the Australian Army said “The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.” We set a high standard for our students and we want them to set a high standard for themselves, and for their fellow class mates. We will continue to work with students to dispel the notion that speaking with a teacher makes them someone to be targeted and labelled a snitch. I encourage you to speak to your child about this issue and encourage them to speak to the school if any issues are raised.

Christopher Ingold | Head of Secondary School