By Claire Elliott,North Wales Live readers

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North Wales Live readers are following developments as teachers at Flint High School went on strike over ongoing concerns about pupil behaviour and workplace bullying. This follows a one-day walkout on 10 September that forced the school to close.

Union representatives say that staff have been injured while intervening in pupil fights and regularly face verbal harassment, with students roaming corridors during lessons. NEU Cymru confirmed that 32 members took part in the strike last week, with further action planned for 23, 24, and 25 September if issues remain unresolved.

Cai Jones, North Wales NEU official, described the situation: “There is barely a lesson where there is not a pupil roaming corridors banging on doors. There have been injuries to staff breaking up fights between pupils. Staff have had to go to accident and emergency, one with a wrist injury.”

Union leaders criticised the school’s approach to discipline, claiming discussions over hot chocolate with misbehaving pupils are insufficient to address misconduct and aggression. NEU Wales Secretary Nicola Fitzpatrick added: “Our members in Flint High School feel they have no choice but to continue with their industrial action. The governors of Flint High School and Flintshire County Council need to engage with us and take the necessary steps to end this.”

Flintshire Council said it had investigated complaints of bullying, which were unsubstantiated, and noted that the school has recently reviewed its pastoral systems and behaviour management policies, introducing new measures.

Commenter Jonesey1 wonders: “Who would want to be a secondary school teacher these days ? The threat of violence from kids, intimidation from parents and siblings, threats of prosecution for even perceived infractions, verbal intimidation, lack of backup from school management, and having to act as social workers and welfare officers in addition to a huge in- and out-of-school workload. All that in a world where their vocation is continually undermined by politicians and (supposed) adults who have some imaginary axe to grind.

“No wonder there’s been a crisis in teaching for so long and which successive governments have done nothing to fix, we have seen manifesto pledges constantly forgotten and wilfully neglected to the detriment of our children and futures. I don’t wonder that these teachers are withdrawing their labour for a couple of days in an attempt to draw attention to what’s happening. No wonder Britain’s in the poor state it is”

Rathers suggests: “Fine the parents and impose prison sentences if they don’t teach their kids respect and how to behave like normal human beings.”

Steamnut says: “I feel for teachers today as they have no means of disciplining children in their classes. Even shouting is deemed to be harmful! The reality is a lot of the children have only one active parent and parenting skills, including toilet and cutlery training, are now devolved to childcare businesses.”

Haroc writes: “Three strikes and they’re out! I would suggest a graded suspension of 1 week, two weeks and finally three weeks, before being expelled. These schools have CCTV for reference, no one should have to tolerate any sort of abuse and I’m unsure how being a teacher is somehow different from any other occupation. An attack on any employee in a different sector would result in police involvement and prosecution. If the parents insist on inclusion for their child, they should be told that any attendance will require the parent to chaperone for the entirety of the school day!”

Rcj111 bemoans: “Kids today have no respect for authority or each other. When I was in secondary school in the mid 70s, pupils showed respect for the teachers. If a teacher walked into the room, everyone stood and addressed the teacher by name. You would never have dreamt about being disrespectful as that would result in a visit to the headteacher’s office with a phone call or letter to parents advising them of what had happened, which in turn would result in another lecture/telling off from parents.”

Borntobemild thinks: “It’s a sign of the times, they watch the news and see ‘grown ups’ abusing and/or throwing missiles at the police and they think this is acceptable behaviour.”

North Wales Live readers, what do you think is the best way to tackle persistent behavioural issues in schools? Share your views in our comments section.