A Birmingham Live investigation has found that children as young as four have been expelled from West Midlands schools for abusing teachers and classmates. Their behavior warranted a lifelong ban from the school, even though they were only a few years old and had just begun their education.
Data collected by Birmingham Live shows a lot of children in their first year of school being expelled for aggressive behavior. There were two boys and two girls who were expelled from a reception class at a Dudley school for “repeated disruptive behavior” in the first year of school.
Last year, a Birmingham reception girl was expelled for hitting an adult, and in 2021, a Birmingham school expelled a kid of four or five for chronic disruptive behavior, however the grounds for the expulsion were not revealed. Four reception-age children were expelled from school in 2019 after assaulting adults.
A five-year-old kid was expelled from a Wolverhampton school last year for “verbal abuse and threatening an adult,” while another was expelled from a city primary school for punching a classmate. A few weeks ago, two 5-year-olds were expelled from Wolverhampton schools for abusing teachers during the 2019/20 academic year.. Two Walsall second-graders were excluded in 2021/22 for unknown reasons.
Schools in the West Midlands have been forced to take severe action against aggressive, violent, and disruptive youngsters after a Freedom of Information request by Birmingham Live. As a result of these findings, education and law enforcement officials may question the appropriateness of excluding children as young as four from school, which might have a long-term impact on their educational futures, especially as they become older.
Over the last five years, hundreds of students of various ages have been permanently expelled from schools in the West Midlands. When it comes to the safety and well-being of the whole student body, headteachers have a difficult decision to make.
