Following yesterday's altercation, Unite's Education Branch has expressed their "condemnation of such behaviour and affirm its stance on conflict resolution".

A statement from Unite follows below:

In the wake of yesterday's violent actions between two young people on the streets of Gibraltar, the Unite Education Branch would like to express its condemnation of such behaviour and affirm its stance on conflict resolution.

Education professionals work very hard to prepare young people to resolve conflict before the event through civilised dialogue and negotiation. As is evident, even when specific individuals ignore this guidance, staff do not abnegate responsibility, but instead intervene as best they can to defuse the situation. 

On this occasion, staff who were casually passing by, together with senior colleagues who were alerted to the fight in progress, cooperated to stop the violence as soon as possible. The Unite Education Branch applauds the work of all staff in their efforts to pre-empt such events. In addition to this, their intervention to defuse this unfortunate altercation speaks volumes as to their dedication and commitment towards our youth. The Unite Education Branch calls on all colleagues, parents, and relevant agencies to continue to work together to guide and coach our young, and in particular the individuals concerned, so that they may better understand conflictive situations and learn how to avoid escalation.