By Rosalind Russell – Seventy-seven per cent of elementary teachers in Ontario say they have personally experienced or witnessed workplace-violence according to a survey conducted for the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario in February and March.
The federation, which represents 83,000 teachers and support personnel, says the survey results revealed that four out of five members state there are more incidents of violence in schools now than when they started working in the Ontario public elementary school system.
In addition, two-thirds of members say the severity of violent incidents has increased and forty-two per cent have suffered a physical injury, illness, or psychological injury/illness because of workplace violence against them this school year.
The federation says despite knowing education workers are being injured at what it calls “an alarming rate”, the provincial government continues to fail to address violence in schools.
Photo: Seventy-seven per cent of elementary teachers in Ontario say they have personally experienced or witnessed workplace-violence according to a survey conducted for the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario in February and March. Photo by Taylor Wilcox – unsplash.com