Terrified teachers were given panic alarms in their homes after youth crime spiraled out of control in a remote Far North Queensland community.
Twelve teachers at Mornington Island State School, 679 kilometers northwest of Cairns, were issued duress alarms and had heat sensors installed in their homes for their protection.
A teacher was reportedly beaten by a student holding a cricket bat, stones were allegedly thrown at the principal, a student allegedly “threw a piece of wood as if it were a spear” and houses were allegedly broken into.
There have been “unprecedented levels of violence” and teachers have been encouraged to sleep with panic alarms next to their beds, one teacher told the Cairns Mail.
“We now have category one fences around our houses, but many children can jump over them,” the teacher said.
Terrified teachers were given panic alarms in their homes after youth crime spiraled out of control in a remote Far North Queensland community (file image)
Twelve teachers at Mornington Island State School (pictured) were given duress alarms and had heat sensors installed in their homes for their protection.
There are 12 teachers in the school, but the school has 206 students and is supposed to have 20 full-time teachers.
Another eight teaching positions remained vacant.
In March, a teacher said a student threatened to “hit them with two metal poles”, while a teacher complained on social media about being hit in the leg with a cricket bat.
Earlier this month, there were incidents where teachers were called “gay c***” and “dumb c***”.
On May 1, Queensland Education Minister Di Farmer said a program called Flexispaces, designed to help at-risk students, would provide $600,000 in funding to Mornington Island State School.
“FlexiSpaces are a great tool to help schools respond to students who face challenges in a conventional educational setting,” Ms. Farmer said as she launched the $45 million program, which will be spread across 34 schools.
But there are serious fears it will make no difference on Mornington Island, as teachers don’t even want to go there, and a new teacher will only last 10 days at the start of the 2024 school year.
A teacher said that the people lived with “third world conditions” and has not had drinking water for months.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Queensland Department of Education with a number of questions.
A Mornington Island State School teacher (pictured) was reportedly punched by a student holding a cricket bat.