Dear Parents and Carers
I am sharing with you a letter I received from the local police about anti-social behaviour in Leamington. The letter has gone to all head teachers in the area as Leamington has been victim to appalling behaviour by a group of teenagers who, between them, attend pretty much every secondary school in our part of Warwickshire. The letter forms part of a joined-up effort by schools and the police to challenge this behaviour; it makes clear the laws which are relevant and includes advice to parents. The police know, as we do, that the overwhelming majority of parents in all our schools have made sure their children have more respect for their communities and are totally opposed to this yobbish behaviour.
The question the police ask all parents is: do you know where your child is and what they are doing when they are out? I would add to that: do you know who your child is in contact with on social media? We discuss with students in school their social media use and many have the mistaken understanding that they have some rights to privacy from their parents on social media – they don’t. Difficult as it is, we are fully within our rights as parents to know and intervene in every aspect of our children’s lives because we know better than they do the mistakes they may make. We will continue with this message in school and actively work with other schools and the police to stamp out the anti-social behaviour in our community which is becoming so much more common in recent years.
As I said, I know nearly all of us are already aware of all these things and do all these things, but please take a moment to read the letter from the police and discuss it with your child. At the very least, take some comfort in the fact that there is a quiet and overwhelming majority out there who agree with you, fight the same battles with their kids every day to stop them doing what they tell you everybody else is allowed to do, and work hard to keep them in line because it is the right thing to do.
Thank you for your support in this matter.
Andy Perry – Head Teacher
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