Violence against teachers: experienced by 90% of students

The tendency of students to physically or verbally attack teachers seems to be on the rise.

The drums of violence against teachers have been beating for some time, but now they are beating louder than ever. According to the latest polls by the Central Sindical Independiente y de Funcionarios (CSIF), an overwhelming percentage of 90% of the teachers surveyed of teachers surveyed say they have experienced some case of violence in the classroomAnother 75% say they have lost respect and authority.

In addition, a quarter of those interviewed say or think that working life in the educational center is neither very pleasant nor enjoyable. It is not a problem alien to anyone; parents' associations are aware of the situation and are calling for more means to combat violence in the classroom. The problem could be in the new forms of socialization and in a bad use of Internet.

The violence according to the Central Independent Union of Civil Servants.

With a sample of 3000 teachers interviewed, the result of this study has caused alarm bells to go off both in the media alert and in the Ministry of Education itself. Despite the fact that schools are created with the aim of educating, it seems that non-violence, one of the fundamental principles to socialize and participate in any culture, loses presence in the classrooms. Physical or verbal violence seems to be present in the work of most teachers.

As if that were not enough, other indicators in the study show more signs of the effects of violence in the classroom. The numbers are as follows: 55% of teachers say that there is a lot of violence in the classroomsIn addition, 28% believe that the relationship with parents is bad or very bad, and another 20% of those surveyed acknowledge having a poor relationship with their students. It is certainly cause for concern if the trend is not reversed.

Main causes

The CSIF presented the study just over a week ago, and its presenter, Mario Gutiérrez, opened the session by openly acknowledging the seriousness of the situation: "it is tremendously worrying". The study is categorical: if this violence by children is not corrected, it will turn into violence by adults.. It is no longer a question of respecting the teacher, but of respecting oneself and others.

The authors of the study point to possible causes of this phenomenon: the lack of authority of the teacher (undoubtedly the most relevant), the access that students have to any type of violent content through the Internet and the little recognition that teachers have by society.

Not so long ago, the teacher was the second most important figure for young people, after their parents. The education their children received was complemented by the school. This chain of transmission of socializing values, says Gutiérrez, has been interrupted.

The unions warn of this latent lack of authority, since in many cases teachers claim that they do not have control over their children's education. teachers claim not to be in control of the situation and feel humiliated by the student even when he or she is in control. by the students themselves, even when they are very young. It is noteworthy that some teachers claim to be unable to remove a student from class when he/she behaves inappropriately. The teachers claim a lack of support from their superiors, the competent authorities but, above all, from parents when they meet with them. "Most of them do not accept criticism of their children," explained one teacher at the presentation of the results of the study.

Another classic of our times could not miss the appointment: social networks. The creators of the study affirm that very young students, between the ages of 12 and 16, provoke situations of school harassment and bullying at extreme levels. The union points to the bad practice on the part of parents of giving mobile devices as gifts at communions. "They do not know how to manage egos and lose respect for their peers 24 hours a day." From this perspective, social networks such as Instagram propitiate a constant competition for influence over othersviolence being one more way of gaining that precious respect.

Some measures

Apart from the recent CSIF study, there are other reports on action and prevention of violence in the classroom that recommend some measures to curb this wave of abuse of teachers. And the situation requires it, according to the most pessimistic points of view. The association El Defensor del Profesor assured that threats and aggressions against educators by students have increased fivefold in recent years.

For this reason, the CSIF has proposed a series of measures that it calls for urgent implementation, such as making a State pact for that public schools have a department of psychological support for this type of incidences, as well as for this type of incidents, or implement an updated school coexistence plan. In the short term, more training for teachers is called for in order to combat the harmful influence of the misuse of new technologies, such as WhatsApp or Facebook.