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Home > Blogs > Middletown School News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > April > 10 > Entry
Are teachers safe at school?
Accounts of student violence against educators have made national headlines twice this month.
On April 1, the Associated Press reported that a group of third-graders in Waycross, Ga. plotted to attack their teacher. The group of as many as nine 8- or 9-year-old boys and girls reportedly brought a broken steak knife, handcuffs and duct tape to school and assigned duties such as covering the window and cleaning up afterward to children.
The police chief told the AP that this plot was a “serious threat.” In Georgia, state law does not permit authorities to file charges against anyone under the age of 13, so these children can’t be handled through the courts.
The plot was uncovered when one child told an adult that a student had a steak knife at school.
And today on MSNBC, a Baltimore teacher talks about being assaulted by one of her high school art students. Another student taped the attack on her cell phone and the video was posted to Myspace.com.
The student allegedly threatened the 30-year-old art teacher and the teacher responded that if the student hit her, she would defend herself. The teacher says the school’s principal suggested she provoked the attack because “defend” is a “trigger word.”
These are pretty extreme incidents, but we’ve seen and heard reports of incidents of violence or near violence against teachers locally, which begs the question: Are teachers safe?
In the 2003-04 school year, 3 percent of public school teachers reported being physically attacked and 7 percent reported being threatened, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The numbers include incidents of violence committed by students and other teachers against teachers.
Reports of being attacked or threatened vary based on the level and geographic classification of the school, according to NCES.
Eight percent of secondary teachers reported being threatened in 2003-04 compared to 6 percent of primary teachers. But a higher percentage of elementary school teachers (4 percent) reported being attacked than secondary school teachers (2 percent).
Teachers in city schools were more likely to be the victims of violent crime than those is suburban, town or rural areas. In city schools, 10 percent of teachers in city school were threatened with injury compared to 6 percent in suburban schools, 5 percent in town and rural schools. Five percent of city school teachers reported actually being attacked compared to 3 percent in suburban and town schools and two percent in rural schools.
According to the NCES report, when teachers are concerned about their safety they may have difficulty teaching or may leave the profession.
Do you think teachers are safe at school? What needs to be done to make sure educators are safe at work?
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Comments
By Diane
April 12, 2008 9:19 AM | Link to this
As a teacher, most of the time I feel safe. But our building is not secure enough. Parents and others come in and roam the building without checking in at the office first.The office can not see who is coming in the door. That is what makes it feel unsafe.By Rick
April 12, 2008 5:19 PM | Link to this
If a teacher is assaulted, that teacher should file a complaint with the police. The union should back up the teacher. If the administration tries to interfere, it should be indicted for obstruction of justice.By Barb
April 13, 2008 12:28 PM | Link to this
Rick’s idea would be good but when we have tried to file a complaint against students for stealing and we have caught them with the evidence the sheriff’s Dept says it is too much paper work. Also the other problem is when a student attacks a teacher either verbally or physically it is the teachers fault for provoking the student. We do not seem to think students need to be accountable for their actions but let a student say anything negative to a student then heads will role.