Pubdate: Mon, 17 May 1999 Source: Canberra Times (Australia) Contact: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/ Author: Don Bell EDUCATION POLICIES FAIL COMMUNITIES EMMA MACDONALD'S article about teacher cutbacks (CT, 12 May, p.11) touches on alcohol and drug abuse, learning disabilities and other social problems which have significantly risen since older teenagers were forced to go back to school in order to receive welfare benefits. In reality, the problem is far greater, and anyone with close contacts in the teaching profession could tell her that there is barely a school in Canberra without a significant drug problem, with all the other flow-ons that are associated with drugs. With the feminisation of the profession there are fewer male teachers to provide role models and back-up for when matters get out of hand. The brunt of discipline falls back on mostly middle-aged female teachers, who often find themselves up against young, alienated thugs. God knows how fresh, younger female teachers will cope, or even want to become teachers, when they gain an inkling of what lies ahead. Perhaps some of the Treasurer's extra spending on education should have been ear-marked so that every school could have at least one bouncer on duty in school hours. That is what is going to be required once politicians stop trying to hide the extent to which their short-term strategies in the educational and other social fields have failed the community. DON BELL Yarralumla - --- MAP posted-by: Ken Russell