Assaults, threats and a crippling workload: Teachers reveal brutal reality

Teachers have revealed the brutal reality faced by Gold Coast educators, detailing the physical assaults, abusive parents and crippling workload. Read their shocking stories.

TEACHERS are quitting in droves because of abusive parents, mountains of paperwork and assaults from students who think they are “running the schools”.

Educators from both public and independent schools who spoke to the Bulletin on the condition of anonymity said some classrooms were like “war zones”, with students facing limited consequences for their actions.

“Students threaten violence against teachers,” an experienced teacher said.

“One threatened to push a teacher down the stairs because they didn’t want to be disciplined for poor behaviour.

“Students punch teachers, throw things at them, threaten to kill them after school, damage their cars.

“There have been instances where students deliberately push a student into a teacher and then accuse the teacher of assaulting the student. They taunt teachers, stalk them and create Snapchats denigrating them.”

More than 1700 Queensland state school teachers and support staff quit the profession last year, with the rate of staff jacking in their jobs hitting a five-year peak.

Teachers told the Bulletin they were suffering high levels of stress.

Teachers spoken to by the Bulletin said the stress of dealing with violent incidents, and exhaustion caused by oppressive workloads, had caused many of their colleagues to leave.

“(Students) lack respect and fabricate things if they want to ‘get a teacher sacked’,” one said.

“... There is a breakdown in values and manners. There is a ‘me me’ mentality and they feel that as long as they get what they want they do not care who they hurt.”

Others said attempting to deal with troublesome pupils could backfire, with teachers ultimately suffering more consequences than students.

One recalled being reprimanded for reporting a student “stoned off his face”, with the teacher being told they should have “tried different strategies with him”.

“There will be no more teachers left at this rate,” another said.

Teachers also reported having to deal with abusive messages and defamatory comments on social media from parents who objected to their children being disciplined.

“These days I email parents as little as possible,” one said. “It’s got to the point where I think, if I send this email, what sort of email am I going to get back?’

“This is how it’s become.”

They also said they are spending huge amounts of time on administration and marking tasks, which frequently took over evenings and weekends.

“They keep giving us more to do, without taking anything away,” one said.

“Once upon a time it would be busy around reporting time, now it’s constant. Every day I have to do something. I spend at least two hours a day and sometimes more.

“It’s all done outside of school because you really don’t have time to mark during the school day.

“You have to use your weekends to do it. My family know that the weekends I get drafts in, we won’t be doing much.”

Teachers are struggling with a heavy workload.

Speaking following the release of a survey at the end of last month which showed the number of principals looking to retire had tripled in the last three years, Terry Burke, Branch Secretary with the Independent Education Union, said school leaders and teachers were coping with a “workload crisis”.

“We don’t have a teacher shortage – we have a shortage of teachers willing to work under oppressive workloads,” Mr Burke said.

“... Both government and school employers need to take urgent action on the issue of workload and work intensification in our schools by putting in place meaningful reforms to tackle the paperwork, red tape and obsession with data which are sucking the life out of our profession.”

Minister for Education Grace Grace. Picture: Tara Croser.

Education Minister Grace Grace said there was “no excuse” for abusive or violent behaviour towards teachers.

“While the number of such incidents is very low as a proportion of the entire teaching workforce, every workplace violence incident is unacceptable,” Ms Grace said.

“In 2021 I launched the Department’s Occupational Violence and Aggression Prevention Strategy to strengthen supports for staff and this included preventive measures such as a campaign to encourage respectful behaviours in schools.

“The Palaszczuk Government knows how important teachers are to Queensland, and resources to support the health and wellbeing of staff are available – including a comprehensive mental health strategy.”

Ms Grace added that The National Teacher Workforce Action Plan had a focus on “better recognising and elevating the status of the teaching profession, as well as addressing concerns about teacher workload.”

Mark Boothman MP. Picture: David Clark.

Theodore MP Mark Boothman, who sits on parliament’s Education, Employment and Training Committee, said few people realised the extent of the pressure many teachers were under.

“We need a concerted effort to deal with the way society treats these professionals,” Mr Boothman said.

“The attitude out there is they get 12 weeks a year of holidays.

“... People don’t understand the workload of dealing with children who are falling behind and then acting out. And then dealing with the parents at the same time.”

Teachers spoken to by the Bulletin also said there also needed to be a “shift” in society’s attitudes towards them.

“I’ve had to take days off because of the violence in the workplace. You feel like you’re in a war zone. And you think, ‘why am I doing this’?”, one said.

“Stress levels are through the roof.

“We need a shift in culture. We need society to see our reality, and to understand that it’s not ok for students and parents alike to abuse us and disrespect us and make our lives hell.”

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Originally published as Assaults, threats and a crippling workload: Teachers reveal brutal reality