Teachers Victimized at School

Two thirds of teachers have been physically or verbally assaulted in the past year with almost 100 percent being on the receiving end of a torrent of abuse from unruly pupils, according to the TAC School Security Report published last July.

The independent survey conducted by Perpetuity Research, a spin-out company of the University of Leicester, was commissioned by security specialists TAC UK to gauge levels of violence, crime and safety in schools.  The 10-page document makes bleak reading with many staff revealing that they had seriously considered moving schools or even leaving the profession altogether.

The sample of more than 300 teachers was supplemented by interviews with other educational experts, revealed that more men (73 percent) than women (62 percent) had been verbally or physically assaulted by a pupil in the last year and in the more extreme cases this took the form of being punched, tripped or kicked.  Of those teachers that had been assaulted in some way, ninety-nine percent of teachers said they had been verbally abused by their pupils with 74 percent claiming that it occurred regularly, at least once every two or three weeks.

Incredibly, 18 percent of the teachers who had been victimized had been threatened with a weapon by a pupil on at least one occasion, with three percent claiming that the threat had been followed through with the use of a knife or a gun in school.

More than 20 percent of teachers had been verbally or physically assaulted by a parent or guardian, with six percent falling victim to an intruder in the school.

The majority of teachers (57 percent) reported that poor pupil behavior interfered with their ability to do their jobs with more men (69 percent) than women (49 percent) arguing that it affected their teaching.

Similarly, the majority of staff (51 percent) said levels of crime and indiscipline in classes interfered with the pupil’s ability to learn.

One third of teachers said they would change school because of violence.  Again, more men (42 percent) than women (35 percent) said they would consider leaving the profession.

The TAC School Security Report also probed teachers about pupils’ experiences of bullying.  The study found that more than half of the teaching staff had reported incidents of pupils falling victims to bullying by either kicking or tripping (65 percent), or pushing, shoving, grabbing and slapping (68 percent), although the researchers argue that the findings here are likely to be more conservative because of the potential under-reporting of incidents.

True State of School Security

Most teachers in the sample (83 percent) said their schools subscribed to anti-bullying programs, carried out staff surveillance at break and lunch times (76 percent) or carried out other strategies to address child indiscipline (71 percent).  More than half of the schools surveyed had isolation or exclusion units. 

Nevertheless, less than half of teachers said their schools recorded incidents of crime and disorder, thereby making it more difficult to create a meaningful and bespoke anti-bullying strategy.  There were mixed feelings among teaching staff about placing guards or police in schools.  Almost 40 percent argued that guarding would be effective with 30 percent saying the opposite and a further 30 percent saying that they were not sure.

Richard Strode, Director of Security in Education, from TAC UK Ltd, said, “We asked Perpetuity to undertake this research because we wanted independent and empirical evidence of the true state of security in schools.  The findings reveal to us the all-too-familiar story of schools under siege and underline the importance of security measures and strategies that can minimize the risks to staff and children alike.  There are lessons to be learned from this research in terms of schools reviewing their security strategies and sending the right messages to pupils and parents that violence and intimidation will not be tolerated.”

“The report makes interesting, if not disturbing, reading,” said criminologist Professor Martin Gill of the University of Leicester, who put the report together with his team of five researchers during the first six months of 2007.

“There was an overall perception of safety and security among most staff, but some feel unsafe, and most teachers were victimized in some way, some seriously.  As they stated in their responses, this can impact negatively on the whole learning experience,” he added.

School Security and Crime in 2006

Other findings from the TAC School Security Report about crime that occurred during 2006:

• 88 percent said they reported all or most incidents crime-related incidents.
• Two thirds felt that the efforts undertaken by the schools to reduce crime were adequate or more than adequate.
• 79 percent of teachers felt safe in the school, but 26 percent of women teachers avoided certain areas compared to 18 percent of men.
• 27 percent of teachers had been assaulted at least once by pupils kicking or tripping them.
• 57 percent of staff had been pushed, shoved, grabbed or slapped by a pupil
• 19 percent had been bitten or hit with a fist on at least one occasion.
• 31 percent of teachers reported having personal items stolen from them in school..
• 10 percent of teachers reported that students had been threatened with a weapon, at least once per month.
• 94 percent of schools require visitors to sign in and out.
• 88 percent of schools have a strict uniform policy.
• 65 percent of schools use security cameras to monitor behavior.
• 46 percent control access to school grounds (locked or monitored gates).
• 32 percent of staff wear badges or identity badges.

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