Violence against women in schools

[GIRFEChahaha]

From Scotland - the unions here have done a great deal of work surveying the levels of violence against teachers in scottish schools. Primary schools are badly affected. Given the majority of teachers in primary schools are female, do you think it’s fair to discuss this as yet another example of society displaying a high tolerance for violence against women? In our primary school, two female staff members have been badly assaulted. One severely enough to leave her job.

I do think there is a high tolerance for violence against women in schools.

Otherwise policies around supporting children with challenging behaviour would also attempt to safeguard staff as part of the mix. It would also be properly resourced and funding.

I don't know if Scotland has support assistance in class rooms. But in england they are generally low paid women, often with inadequate training, that puts them at risk.

It’s the same in Scotland. Additional Needs Assistants are the ones most affected by the violence. I learned yesterday that 94% of all violence against our local council employees happened in schools. I can’t understand why I haven’t seen feminist campaigning organisations taking this up. In addition, staff are told (if violence occurs) that’s it’s because they didn’t recognise a trigger, or did something wrong - blaming the victim as happens in domestic violence as well. And they face disciplinary action if they refuse to teach an extremely violent child.

I think it's because children, even violent ones, are vulnerable and people are concerned about what would happen to the children.

But I feel it must be possible to improve the situation for everyone.

I wonder if it was seen more through the lens of health and safety at work it might improve.

I was thinking how a lot of health and safety legislation was slow to catch up on the risks of more female things like nail technician chemicals.

There are a lot of factors here. The idea that violent children will stop being violent children if only you calmly explain to them how violent they are, and that no other measures are ever appropriate. Feckless parents who refuse to take responsibility for their children's bad behaviour. Spineless senior staff who, if teachers do take stricter behavioural measures, or if parents confront them for some other reason, will always take the parents' side.

Perhaps if most teachers were men we wouldn't have let things get into this state in the first place. I wonder if male teachers suffer as much parental intimidation and senior staff antagonism - I suspect not ...

There are a lot of factors, and one of them is associated harm to children. Kids at our school see staff crying, hear them panicking over walkie-talkies and have witnessed appalling attacks on them. The pool of violence against women in schools is the same pool our children have to swim in.

The whole situation is beyond belief, and I’ve found the tolerance inexplicable. I think that’s why I’m trying to work out why reasonable adults aren’t doing and saying more.

This story is on the BBC today:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cewg25nndkpo
Violence against women and girls is tolerated everywhere. If women just refuse to teach boys like this they’d get a whole load of bullshit about how we can’t have teachers choosing who to teach. But why should women put up with this on top of shitty pay and conditions?

There has never been a point in my life where I would willingly have walked into a class full of teenage boys on my own directly because of Britain’s misogyny. When I worked in special schools there were boys who believed and said openly that they had the right to attack staff.

Yes, this is absolutely the case.

Dh is a primary teacher and currently the only male teacher in the school. In his previous school he was one of three so possibly it wasn't so obvious (or this school is particularly bad).

There are several boys in the school who he has to "manage", two in his class and some others that he's taken out of class sometimes to help with, because they have a seriously bad attitude towards women and when they really kick off it's not safe for female staff members to be left with them. Not just one child like this, several. He's also been assaulted but it's much worse with the female staff.

With the boys in his class, he reckons their home environment goes a long way to explaining how they are, but the female teachers and support staff shouldn't be exposed to it. I was really shocked at the lack of support for assaulted staff.

It's not just teenagers though. My nuece is at Uni doing teacher training. She's been threatened, sworn at, bitten, kicked, punched an had things thrown at her by 6 & 8 year olds!!

These are little children who have no respect and are violent. They're learning that somewhere

I cant believe what she's having to put up while still a student

I wonder if male teachers suffer as much parental intimidation and senior staff antagonism - I suspect not

IME, they do.
From both parents.
Either the mother will have a go at anyone.
Or in some cases the mother will pass the information on to the father to 'sort you out'