Armed police will be permanently based at some of the Northern Territory's poorest performing schools in a return of a program previously dumped.
The new "school-based policing officers" will return from next month in 10 schools, selected on the basis of the high numbers of suspensions and incidents occurring there and identified "at risk" youth.
The move comes amid sharp rises in assaults and suspensions at NT Education Department schools.
The Sanderson Middle School in Darwin went into lockdown a fortnight ago when when a group of another school trespassed, threatening teachers and students.
Sanderson will receive a police officer, with the other schools based around Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs.
The more support there was around young Territorians the better the chance of them having brighter futures and avoiding trouble as adults, Police, Fire and Emergency Services Minister Nicole Manison said.
The president of the Northern Territory Council of Government School Organisations Tabby Fudge said the program was an example of a proactive approach to policing in the community.
"School is a microcosm of the larger community and if we get it right in our schools, there are flow-on effects and people grow up happier with healthier results and we get it right with our kids," Ms Fudge told reporters.
It will be up to police how visible their guns are but they will carry weapons in case there are nearby emergencies.
When Ms Manison and Education Minister Selena Uibo visited Palmerston College on Monday, students were being given a class by police officers in cyber safety.
The message was about not sharing too much personal information online, including intimate pictures, to avoid being blackmailed.
Ms Manison said she had also asked police to be aware of Aboriginal children that were transient between remote communities and urban . centres make sure they received care and attention.
"I've asked police to do make sure we have got the model right, this government's intention is to keep police in schools," she told reporters.
Ms Manison said the new model aims to address issues raised during the Royal Commission into children in detention the NT, with a greater focus on safety, youth engagement and youth diversion.
Deputy Leader of the Opposition Lia Finocchiaro said there was no new funding and of 150 government schools across the Territory only 10 would receive police, meaning most of the 33,000 students would miss out.
