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Violence, harassment from students is overwhelmingly 'part of the job' for Saskatchewan education sector workers

Saskatchewan education sector workers are experiencing disturbing levels of workplace violence and harassment, says spotlighting a situation that has reached "a breaking point," according to its authors.

Testimonies catalogued by University of Ottawa researchers have found that Saskatchewan schools are far from offering a safe and violence-free environment as workplace violence becomes increasingly normalized.

"I've been punched in the face, had push pins held to my eyeballs, and scissors held to my throat," the report quotes one educational assistant.

"(A) student flipped a table, choked me with my lanyard, and repeatedly threw the chair into the wall … (then) the window, and started kicking (me)," assert some of the people interviewed for the study.

The findings

Researchers surveyed 828 Saskatchewan education sector workers—teachers as well as direct and indirect student support workers—for the National Violence and Harassment Against Education Sector Workers, and found:

• Nearly three-quarters of respondents experienced one attempt of physical force from a student.
• 85% witnessed at least one student-initiated act, attempt, or threat of physical force against a co-worker. These behaviors frequently involved a refusal to respect authority, swearing, and offensive remarks.
• 54% of respondents experienced parent-initiated harassment, with teachers and clerical workers reporting the highest rates.
• Women experienced 20 unique acts, attempts, or threats of physical force from a student, whereas men reported an average of 10.
• Identity plays a role: Education sector workers with a reported diagnosed mental illness were most often targeted for harassment, as were 2SLGBTQIA+ workers.

"Saskatchewan schools are beyond the breaking point. Years of underfunding and dwindling resources have culminated in compounding costs and everyone in the school community is paying the price," says Chris Bruckert, a Full Professor from the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Ottawa and Principal Investigator on the project.

Impact on students

The lead author, Darby Mallory, a uOttawa doctoral student in the Department of Criminology, noted, "It is hard to overstate how destabilizing it is for students to routinely witness violence against their teachers and/or educational assistants. The research identified three principal ways students are affected by educator-directed violence: access to instruction, capacity to learn, and emotional well-being."

The detailed report found just 6% of respondents felt actions taken to deal with the violence they experienced were "very effective." Most institutional responses to workplace violence and harassment were reactive, deflective, or dismissive, with participants describing their concerns being negated as incidents are routinely "swept under the rug."

Proactive measures like safety plans have the potential to address these issues but their effectiveness is compromised by the chronic lack of resources in schools.

"Overwhelmingly, Saskatchewan's education sector workers described feeling burnt out, less enthusiastic, and dissatisfied with their jobs," adds Bruckert, from the Department of Criminology. "We all pay the price when careers are abandoned by trained education sector workers, and the physical and mental injuries at work further strain our health care system."