But it’s important we don’t give up on these students.

The NSW Department of Education incident report revealed there were 23 incidents in the first half of 2016, including 16 violent incidents and two involving weapons.

As The Leader revealed in its Kids Back On Track campaign to retain government funding for youth support program Youth Insearch, there are many complex and underlying issues that lead to young people lashing out.

Trouble at home, domestic violence, sexual assault, depression and anxiety can all led to behavioural problems.

Some of the worst-behaved kids also have the most tragic stories. 

What The Leader also discovered through its Kids Back On Track campaign, is that there are avenues for recovery. Rather than turning our backs on these students, we must tackle the underlying cause of their bad behaviour and wrap them in support services.

The safety of students and teachers in schools must be a priority – schools have to be a safe place for students to learn and develop in their formative years.

But there must always be a place for all students in our public schools, regardless of the baggage and problems they bring with them.

Forcing these vulnerable young people out of the education system will set them on a dangerous path that once on is hard to leave.

It’s easy to show these kids the door. While difficult, it is far more rewarding to work with these students and slowly but surely craft them into a young adult who can make a meaningful contribution to our society.

While the 2016 numbers are up from the same period in 2015, when there were a total of 16 incidents, it’s difficult to tell if there is a tangible increase.

The way the data is reported by the Department of Education was changed in 2015 – before that incidents are listed under the New England umbrella, rather than drilling down into the specific regional school networks.

Incidents are classified under several categories; violence, weapons, welfare, technology and other.