Nearly 40 Per Cent of Ontario Teachers Say Bullied By Students: Survey

By GILLIAN LIVINGSTON

TORONTO (CP) – Four out of every 10 Ontario teachers has experienced bullying in the classroom, the province’s teachers’ unions said Monday as they urged governments to get serious about a problem they say is plaguing educators across the country.

The problem borders on abuse and goes far beyond the run-of-the-mill classroom rowdiness that’s part of a typical day for teachers and student supervisors, said Rhonda Kimberley-Young, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation.

The bullying ranges from repeated and persistent verbal abuse, racial or sexual slurs and classroom disruption to threats of violence, vandalism of personal property and physical assault, Kimberley-Young told a news conference.

Some teachers have suffered from stress, anxiety and depression as a result, said Kimberley-Young, who admitted to being “surprised” by the study’s results, most notably the fact the abuse came from students of all ages.

The study, commissioned by three of the province’s unions, randomly surveyed more than 1,200 teachers during a two-week period earlier this year, and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

It found that part-time, female and elementary teachers were most likely to be targeted by student bullies, who are primarily male.

The unions are calling for a team approach to deal with bullying that includes more training and support for teachers, administrators, parents and kids to stop bullies and help them put an early stop to anti-social behaviour in the classroom.

“If a bully is leaving the school system as a student, they’re going to be a bully in society,” said Donna Marie Kennedy, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association.

“This is a societal problem. We need to address it and we need to address it now . . . . somebody doesn’t stop being a bully when they graduate from Grade 12.”

Nor is it strictly an Ontario problem: a survey by the Canadian Teachers’ Federation in May found bullying to be a regular occurrence in elementary schools across Canada.

Of 1,100 teachers surveyed, 60 per cent reported witnessing a student verbally abusing a teacher in the last year, and 35 per cent said they saw a teacher being physically assaulted or intimidated by a student.

“We are disturbed with that because safe and caring schools is a national priority,” federation president Winston Carter said Monday.

“However, teachers and schools need . . . support when dealing with students who have difficulty in communicating their emotions without resorting to violence.”

The national study also found that 82 per cent of respondents said they don’t fear for their physical safety when at school.

Premier Dalton McGuinty said all schools in Ontario will soon have anti-bullying programs and character education programs to teach and promote respect.

“We are going to require that anti-bullying programs be in place in all of our schools,” McGuinty said. “We’re going to make an anti-bullying hotline available as well.”

McGuinty also noted the government is reviewing the province’s Safe Schools Act, which governs how school boards can handle bad behaviour.

Kimberley-Young, meanwhile, dismissed suggestions that the survey is just another attempt to pry more money out of provincial and federal governments.

While schools will need additional resources to get some programs started, they’re not big-ticket items and most programs mainly involve training, she said.