Teachers targeted by aggressive and abusive parents in NSW schools

Parents have been reprimanded at several NSW schools for incidents including verbally abusing or harassing teachers electronically and in front of students.

NSW teachers are continuously being targeted by abusive parents.

Exclusive: Parents have been reprimanded at more than half a dozen NSW schools for incidents including verbally abusing or harassing teachers in front of students and bullying educators or other parents in WhatsApp groups, with education leaders aghast at the bad behaviour.

Principals have even been forced to intervene in some cases and ban “highly aggressive” parents from school grounds. School leaders across NSW private and state schools have raised the alarm in recent weeks in newsletters to parents saying there had been “several incidents” where parents were verbally abusing staff members.

Educators have also told The Sunday Telegraph that parents are going to “extreme lengths” and recording parent teacher interviews, making them “uncomfortable”

A Sydney private school principal said he had been forced to ban certain parents from the schoolyard due to some having “highly aggressive” behaviour.

“There have been instances where staff are being threatened by parents at the front of schools in front of other students and staff,” the principal said.

“It can be highly confronting for staff and in some cases I have issued warnings or banned them for a period of time if they are being highly aggressive.

School leaders have complained about parents being threatening towards staff.

Bonnyrigg Public School principal Voula Soumelidis issued a stern warning to parents about their behaviour in a school newsletter last month, saying there had been several incidents where parents had engaged in verbal abuse with each other and with staff members.

“This is very disappointing behaviour, and these incidents have taken place in front of our children,” Ms Soumelidis said.

“This is not acceptable. The school will not tolerate this behaviour and will be forced to issue the Enclosed Lands Act to those responsible if this behaviour continues.”

A state school principal in Sydney’s west said that parents were “consistently” being verbally abusive and threatening towards staff.

“The mother of a student began yelling at one of the teachers during a recent parent teacher interview,” the principal said.

“The teacher was trying to communicate key improvement areas and the mother was very dismissive and yelled at the teacher in front of other staff and families.”

A teacher at a private school in Sydney’s lower north shore said parents were going to extreme lengths to invade staff’s privacy, including covertly recording them.

“It came to my attention that a mother had been recording my phone calls without my knowledge or consent over discussions about her son’s disruptive behaviour,” he said.

“I also saw the camera app on her phone in recording mode during a face-to-face meeting, it made me very uncomfortable and I raised the issue with the deputy principal.”

Dr Paul Kidson, Australian Catholic University researcher and education expert, says there has been an “increasing trend” of parents being aggressive towards staff members. Picture: Supplied

Educators have also expressed concerns about unofficial school WhatsApp groups being misused, with parents bullying each other and staff members.

Last month, The Scots School Albury principal Mark Hemphill wrote to parents saying he had been made aware of parents being rude, aggressive and abusive towards Noone school uniform shop staff.

Australian Catholic University educational leadership expert and former NSW school principal Associate Professor Paul Kidson said his research had shown the an “increasing trend” of parents being aggressive towards staff members.

“We’ve seen in the past two years in our Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey that principals are spending an increasing amount of time not only supporting the mental health of students, but the mental health of staff,” he said.

Deputy Premier and Education and Early Learning Minister Prue Car said: “We have zero tolerance for violence and disrespect towards teachers.”

“While the overwhelming majority of parents engage positively with schools, it only takes one incident to ripple through the classroom, impacting the wellbeing of teachers and the educational outcomes for their students.”

NSW Department of Education public schools deputy secretary Deborah Summerhayes said “We will not hesitate to take strong action against violence and disrespect in the rare instances when it occurs.”

Do you have a story for The Daily Telegraph? Message 0481 056 618 or email [e-mail]

Originally published as Teachers targeted by aggressive and abusive parents in NSW schools