Rage is becoming part of our daily routine

THERE’S road rage, trolley-rage, surf-rage, cyber-rage, and the rising rage and violence in our schools. It’s a sign respect is eroding, and teachers are bearing the brunt, writes Karen Brooks.

FOR years, reports about violence towards teachers have been growing.

Last week, another surfaced which revealed that in the last twelve months, teaching and allied staff in public schools in Queensland have submitted 359 WorkCover claims. This is an increase of 55 incidents from the previous year.

Occurrences include students throwing chairs at teachers, punching them, tackling them to the ground, threatening physical violence and hurling abuse.

But it’s not just students engaging in these types of aggressive behaviours. Parents, once the backbone that supported the school body, are making threats, engaging in physical altercations and — instead of supporting staff when their children behave badly — are more likely to defend their little bully.

What is at the heart of this terrible rise in violence — not only from students but parents as well?

The key would have to be the decline of respect.

There has been a rise in attacks on teachers in the past year. (Pic: iStock)

This is why the Queensland Government launched the “Respect our staff, respect our school” campaign in an effort to manage how disagreements and conflict can be best handled. Prioritising the safety of students and staff, the campaign emphasises civil communication and discussing with children and teachers any incidents that may arise.

Implicit in the information is for parents not to jump to conclusions, to bring to school authorities and teachers’ attention anything that may impact upon a child’s wellbeing (whether that be bullying, poor grades, inability of parents to meet school fees etc) and basically not to let any issue fester.

This is all well and good, but it can only work if there’s respect for the institution and those working in it — ie the teachers — in the first place. If there is a willingness to have an open mind and not assume that your child is always in the right. To deal with issues like reasoned adults.

The erosion of respect for the education profession is an ongoing community-wide issue. I’ve written about this before, but unless we do something this kind of violence and disregard for rules and a teacher’s authority will only increase.

Discussing respect with Sue Knight, a dedicated and popular teacher who has been working in the system for 40 years, she acknowledges that while most of her teaching days are “calmness and delight”, there have been terrible moments.

Not only was Sue the victim of a chair attack years ago (she intervened when one boy went to harm another and she was injured), but she’s borne witness to the shift in attitudes towards the teaching profession and the decline of support from a minority of vocal parents. She has seen the propensity of some to blindly defend their kids, be apathetic and/or make unreasonable demands — even when their child is clearly at fault — and the growing sense of entitlement in children undermining teachers, education and school rules can bring about.

Sue says, “Lack of community respect fuels the problem, but honestly, I place a lot of the blame with the students because so many of them lack empathy, are dangerous keyboard warriors and are egocentric and vengeful. Teachers are seen as easy targets and, sadly, a lot of kids’ parents can’t control them.”

Teachers are suffering from a lack of support and respect from a vocal minority. (Pic: iStock)

And this is before she discusses the broader issue of rage.

Rage is gradually being normalised in everyday interactions (road rage, trolley-rage, surf-rage, never mind cyber-rage) and bleeding into schools. Is it any wonder our kids mimic adult behaviour — especially if it gets the desired reaction?

Schools now have to deal with parent-rage, whether it’s over dropping kids off, grades, fees, an instruction from a teacher, bullying, et cetera.

Students witness this all the time — and at home. The adults in their life behaving badly and, worse, getting results. Parents are no longer just squeaky wheels or standing by their kids to ensure justice is served, they’re overbearing, loud bodyguards, eradicating any sense of respect, responsibility or consequences and using intimidation to get the outcome they want.

We hear it all the time, but it’s a truism: respect must begin at home.

Unless a child sees their parents giving and receiving it, then it will have no value. Unless they see the things the Respect campaign advises in action — appreciating teachers, listening, keeping an open-mind and, let’s face it, being prepared to hear your child isn’t always perfect and smart — then why would they embrace it?

We can only improve our schools by acknowledging what’s going wrong and being willing to change. Violence in any form is the problem, not the answer.

No school is perfect, but teachers try to help make our kids the best they can be. Let’s at least start by giving them both credit for that and the respect such a noble aspiration deserves.

Dr Karen Brooks is an honorary senior research fellow at the University of Queensland.