As children most of us will have sung a song about your unwillingness to shove your granny off a bus. This song correctly identifies that such an act is wrong and without saying as much concedes that such an action would be an assault escalating to a potential murder, or if you want to be pedantic, any lack of criminal intent being absent, a charge of culpable and reckless conduct could be considered.

Similarly, the jeely piece song outlines circumstances within which the more zealous officer of the law or concerned social worker might be considering a protection order or maybe a charge under Section 12 of the C&YP.

Children have sung such songs for generations and each and every one of them has the capacity to understand the difference between right and wrong, good and bad, what is acceptable, and what is not, or so I thought.

I was horrified to read the results of a survey carried out by a lecturer at Edinburgh's Napier University which showed that, despite the majority of primary 7 children surveyed acknowledging that violence is wrong, many felt it was acceptable for a husband to push his wife if the tea was not ready on time. The level of violence deemed acceptable became higher as the severity of the apparent failing increased with "violence" being fine if the wife was having an affair.

When given a fictional case study 80% of the primary 7 children were of the view that the tea should have been ready. If you presume (always dangerous) that the children questioned were split on a 50/50 basis based on gender, a minimum of 60% of the girls interviewed must have formed that view.

It is a matter of fact that the vast majority of victims in the 53,681 domestic violence incidents recorded in Scotland during 2008/09 were female and given the above attitudes and beliefs it is hard to see where that figure can be improved upon.

Simple arithmetic shows that each and every day in Scotland over 140 domestic incidents take place which invariably leads to the same number of victims. Each and every one of these people will become a victim in the very place they are entitled to feel safest, their home.

It is well recorded and evidenced that the Police are doing a great deal in relation to domestic matters with all forces rightly concentrating efforts and resources in this area. Whilst that is most welcome the above survey shows that the next generation of potential victims and accused are living in what I can only describe as the dark ages.

The Police need to get back into schools and deliver the domestic violence message to children at an age when they might still be influenced and opinions changed. Only when they fully understand the principle and concept of zero tolerance, irrespective of its' regional disguises, will the horrific figure of Scottish incidents have any real chance of being reduced.

Note: The views expressed in The Station Blog are written by neither a Federation representative nor an employee and are not necessarily those of the Joint Central Committee of the Scottish Police Federation.  If you want to comment on the content please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it