Teachers under siege - the hidden victims

By Bronwyn Sell

Two out of three secondary school teachers are abused or threatened by their students each year, 16 per cent seriously, according to research by their union, the PPTA.

And over 80 per cent say their classrooms are getting harder to control.

Examples from one teacher's week include: "Arguing with teacher, yelling over teacher, threatening to break windows in my house, spitting on door handles, graffiti on desks, going through teacher's desk."

One female teacher received a letter, saying she needed "a bullet in the ....ing head."

But while bullying of students and fighting between students have received considerable attention, violence against teachers is largely ignored.

Yet last year 289 students were suspended for assaulting teachers, and 1490 were suspended for verbal abuse - an increase on the previous year.

PPTA field officer Bill Harris says many more attacks went unreported, especially if teachers considered their schools were inept at dealing with the incidents.

Some schools say verbal assaults are not to be reported until the third incident, by which time things have gone too far.

"Teachers [also] think if they report lower-level violence in the classroom, it shows them to be incompetent."

That, and fear of retaliation, stops teachers speaking out.

Mr Harris says violence against teachers reflects a more violent society.

Secondary Principals Association president Allan Peachey says abuse stems from the loss of respect for teachers.

"In an environment where the politicians are teacher-bashing, and the community is teacher-bashing, children are picking up the messages that it's acceptable behaviour."

He says principals have an important role in creating a school environment that does not tolerate even the most minor acts against teachers.

"Nine out of ten times, things start small. Any instances of verbal or physical violence against teachers have to be dealt with there and then, and strongly."

Nearly all teachers in the PPTA survey said more students than before were having problems with their families - social and financial - and their behaviour and performance at school were suffering.

Mr Harris knows some teachers are close to quitting because of the violence, and he suspects there are many more he is not hearing from.

On the other side of the ledger, although corporal punishment was abolished in 1990, some teachers have replaced it with unsanctioned violence.

Youth Law solicitor David Fleming says 25 complaints of violence by teachers were reported to his company in the year to June, compared with 11 the year before. They ranged from minor to serious assaults - in one case, a student was reportedly threatened with a bayonet.

Other cases involved teachers grabbing students by their arms and throwing them out of classrooms.