In the past five years, some of the youngest students in Toronto’s public school system have been suspended from school for such infractions as physical assault, sexual harassment and bullying.

Data obtained by CTV Toronto’s Naomi Parness through an Access-to-Information request breaks down the number of suspensions for Toronto District School Board students in junior kindergarten to Grade 6, from 2009-10 to 2013-14.

Over the past five years, physical assault has been biggest reason for suspension in those grades, accounting for 28 per cent all suspensions, while breach of code has accounted for more than 25 per cent of all suspensions.

Other infractions that led to suspensions included possessing a weapon, fighting, harassment and swearing at a teacher or another person in a position of authority.

For example, 12 junior kindergarten students and 34 senior kindergarten students were pulled from the classroom last year for reasons such as physical assault and breaching the code of conduct. Students in junior kindergarten are typically between the ages of 3-4.

The board-wide enrolment for junior and senior kindergarten students last year was 17,698 and 18,605 respectively.

In 2011-12, six students in Grade 2 were suspended for sexual harassment, according to the data. That year, there were a total of 17,534 students enrolled in Grade 2.

Types of infractions with fewer than six incidents were excluded in the totals to protect student privacy, the board said.

The TDSB says when it comes to “assault” and what warrants a suspension, it depends on the individual circumstances of each case. Generally, however, assault is defined as when a person applies, or attempts to apply, force intentionally to another person.

For all the grades, breach of code of conduct and physical assault were the top reasons for suspension. And in many cases, the numbers have remained the same since 2009.

The 2009-10 school year had the highest number of total TDSB suspensions, representing 21. 8 per cent of cases in the five-year period. Conversely, the 2013-14 school year was the lowest, at 17.9 per cent.

Still, the TDSB says suspension numbers for elementary-school students “remain low.”

“With more than 140,000 kindergarten to Grade 6 students spread across hundreds of elementary schools across the city, suspension numbers for these grades remain low and have stayed relatively consistent over recent years,” spokesperson Ryan Bird said in an email. “In some cases, numbers have declined significantly for certain suspension reasons such as bullying.”

Internet, violence in media to blame

Stu Auty, president of the Canadian Safe School Network, says the reasons for suspensions have changed over the years and should be a concern.

Students don’t have the same level of respect as in years past, Auty said, and the Internet and violence in the media are to blame.

“I have been saying for years about the Internet – it’s uncontrolled,” Auty told CTV Toronto. “It’s like the Wild West and kids are experiencing information off the net that you and I never would have experienced prior to to the net.”

Auty said parental controls are important, but investing in early intervention programs in schools is also necessary.

“If a child is demonstrating behaviours that are abhorrent, or going in the wrong direction early on and not looked after by the time that they go to secondary school, they become problems the community has to deal with,” Auty said.

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Suspensions by Infraction Type

Graphics by Kendra Mangione