Teachers face timetable of bullying in schools


Many teachers are facing a daily diet of stress, bullying and violence, according to new research by the NASUWT teaching union. 


A quarter (24%) of teachers experience physical violence from pupils at least once a week and 4% are attacked on daily basis, according to a NASUWT survey of almost 5,000 teachers. Nine out of 10 (89%) had suffered from physical or verbal abuse in the past 12 months. 


Figures released before the 
union’s annual conference in Belfast last month also show that “bullying is alarmingly prevalent in schools and colleges”, with four in five teachers bullied over the past year. The main perpetrators were headteachers, senior leaders and managers. 


The union also accused ministers and employers of being “in denial about the national crisis in teachers’ mental health”.


NASUWT research found that nearly 44% of teachers had sought help from a doctor or medical professional to deal with the impact of their job on their mental and physical health. Three-quarters of staff (77%) said stress had worsened over the past year. 


Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: “Ministers and employers disgracefully are in denial of the scale of the national crisis, probably because they know that its cause rests firmly with the adverse management practices they enable to flourish.”

https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/violence-against-teachers-weekly-occurrence.html