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May
7
Some Students Bully Teachers Too
Filed Under "At-risk" students, Bullying
Last time, I discussed the issue of teachers bullying students in my post Some teachers are bullies too . There, I suggested some reasons why teachers resort to bullying, how bullying affects the teachers who bully, how bullying affects the students who get bullied and how bullying affects the entire school environment. I also suggested what needs to be done to stop the bullying. Today, I’m going to examine the issue of students bullying teachers and make some suggestions on how to stop it.
I hear and see students bullying teachers almost everyday. Over the years, students have tried to bully me too. I’ve had my classes disrupted with repeated disrespectful behaviour. I’ve had cars vandalized by students keying them. I’ve had personal property stolen from my office and classroom on numerous occasions, and I’ve had so much verbal abuse hurled at me I’ve lost track of the number of times that happened. Fortunately I haven’t been physically attacked, although I’ve had students try to intimidate me. The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation reports that seven percent of its members have been attacked by students. I’ll talk more about the report later.
Ironically, the incidences of student bullying behaviour happened to me while teaching classes in regular high schools, not when I taught classes in the closed custody institution better know as jail. It’s hard to believe it is easier and safer to teach in jail than it is to teach in regular schools.Teaching kids in jail sounds so much scarier than teaching kids in a neighborhood school, but believe me it’s not. I don’t want our schools to turn into jails to make them a safe place to teach.
Happy-Slapping. Have you ever heard of that term? I hadn’t until recently. ‘Happy slapping’ is nothing to do with being happy. It’s a form of bullying where people are attacked and the attack is filmed on a mobile camera phone. Attackers often share the videos with their friends. Students are happy-slapping teachers. This is how it works. Students will do something that they know will absolutely drive the teacher crazy, and then will film the teacher’s embarrassing reaction using the camera on a cell phone and then suddenly before you know it the whole incident it on YouTube for the world to see and judge. Now before we judge teachers who loose it too harshly, we should remember we’ve all had our own embarrassing moments and certainly wouldn’t want an audience of millions to witness them. .We’ve all had times when we haven’t been at the top of our game on a given day for any number of reasons. I’ve heard kids talking and laughing about pushing a teacher’s buttons and sitting back and enjoying the show.
I talked before about cyber-bullying in my post called Schools need to do more to protect students from road rage on the digital highway. In that post I discuss the incident where students got into serious trouble for the abusive things they said on-line about their vice-principal. Kids need to realize that they can’t just say anything they want. Even if they say it on their computer at home. Freedom of speech is governed by the laws of libel and slander. Students just can’t say anything they want.
Another way that kids bully teachers is to comment about them them on the Rate My Teacher site. Kids can go there and write anything they want about teachers . That’s scary. Reputations can be ruined, and there isn’t much that can be done because it’s anonymous. so. Supposedly, it is possible to remove any comments teachers find offensive, but people have said that it has taken up to three weeks to do so. In the mean time the malicious comments are there for anyone to read. What if teachers aren’t aware of what was said about them on the site. They wouldn’t even know to remove the comments. It’s not good. As you can imagine, many schools have blocked the Rate my Teacher site, but kids can still access it from home. It’s been argued that the site damages trust between teachers and students
When you are facing a class five times a day, with 30 children at a time, and you don’t know who actually has written these things, you become far more guarded in everything you do . And the bottom line iyou lose all trust in the students you’ve got sitting in front of you.
I’ve been looking at some of ways students bully teachers. I guess the next question could be: how often does this happen? Earlier, I said that I see and hear teachers being bullied almost everyday. Now, I’d like to give you a more accurate picture of the bullying problem by sharing with you some of the report on Bullying in the Work Place that the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation or OSSTF conducted. “Oh no,” I can hear some of you thinking “she’s going to share a report”. Don’t worry. I’m not going to bore you to death. I’m just going to share enough of the report to make my point about students bullying teachers. If you want to read the entire 32 page report, you can go on-line and do so.
The report of July 2005 noted that
36% percent of teachers have been bullied by students. 36% of teachers have been bullied by students. Wow, that’s a lot of teachers. Think about that the next time you talk to a teacher. Think of what teachers have to contend with. Now, who do you think students target most for bullying- is it female teachers or male teachers, part-time teachers or full-time teachers? I guessed wrong when it came to gender. Here’s the breakdown:
Part-time teachers (61 %)
Full-time teachers (34%)
Support staff (30%).
Men (39%)
Women (35%)
Before I read this report, I always thought that male teachers had it easier than female teachers. Why? Because they’re guys. You know, an automatic authority figure. I can’t believe I said that! That’s stereotyping. I just realized that as I said it. Wow, I’ll have to watch that. Now, I wasn’t surprised that part-time teachers were more likely to get bullied. Kids seem to think that part-time teachers or substitute teachers are fair game for bullying.
I’ve been quoting statistics from the Ontario Secondary School Teacher Federation’s report mainly because I am a member of this Federation, and also I teach in a secondary school in Ontario. In doing research for this article I learned that teacher bullying occurs in many other countries. For example, here’s a report about bullying from London It’s really very sad.
Aggrey Suit, a fifty-year-old teacher was bullied so badly by pupils in his class that he was scared to teach.
Mr Suit taught computer studies at a secondary school in LondonI sometimes cried when I was on my own. I felt I’d let down my community. I wanted to do well and teach kids.”
Mr Suit has now left the school but the experience has left a lasting impression and he has given up teaching.
Bullying’s not a game. It is something that can destroy people’s lives and it can destroy adults’ lives just like it does children. We teachers suffer just like children do.
Yes, teachers who are bullied do suffer. According to the OSSTF report
10 percent of those who have been bullied take time away from work.
53 percent of bullied individuals report that they suffered psychological, health related or other personal impacts as a result of the bullying-most often irritability, loss of sleep or loss of self-confidence, but sometimes severe anxiety attacks, loss of appetite, diagnosed depression or increased use of alcohol, tobacco or other substances.
We’ve looked at what happens to teachers who are bullied. What’s happens to the students who bully them? School boards have anti-bullying policies that make it very clear that bullying will not be tolerated. That includes cyber-bullying. There are also libel and slander laws that protect teachers and laws against physical attacks and vandalism. Teachers can sue students and their parent’s for damages. Perhaps that is what it will take to stop bullying. The in school consequences for bullying that range from warnings to detentions to suspensions and even expulsions. The OSSTF Report notes that 36% of teachers who were bullied said that the students were suspended from school as a consequence of their bullying. I’m going to talk next time about can be done to help bullies. There’s a lot that can be done. At least that’s the way I see it.
Theme music- 3 feet up- Podsafe Music Network
Here are links to other articles I wrote on the topic. I hope they are helpful.
Bullying is a cry for help. We’d better listen.“>Bullying is a cry for help. We’d better listen
What to do to stop teachers bullying other teachers
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22 Responses to “Some Students Bully Teachers Too”
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I had to laugh when you said, “Oh no,” I can hear some of you thinking “she’s going to share a report”.
I’m one of those strange animals who actually like reports.
You made a comment about trust. Interesting to note that a number of factors involved in bullying are relational. Relationships can harm or heal, but what kind of relationship is there without trust?
Re Male victims: When male victims are physically or sexually assaulted they are far more likely to suffer serious physical injuries than female victims. Offenders generally apply far more violent force in attacks against males (for a few reasons).
Laurie,
I was thinking about trust when I read the post on your site (http://www.threat-assessment.blogspot.com/) about the mom who abused her young disabled daughter. It is really a sad story.
That’s just nasty about happy slapping. It’s just really too bad that any bullying of teachers happens. Thanks for pointing these out, Elona.
S.
I think students caught bullying should be properly disciplined. Letting them go with it will only fuel their guts in doing it again. This is one problem that we can’t just ignore.
I’m not surprised that students bully their teachers. Students these days are more liberated and will try almost anything. I believe some those bullies lack discipline and some are just influenced by their peers.
I’m bullied by my students and I find hard to move on. It’s still not working after I talk with them. They talk loudly and laugh loudly in class and they walk around in my class without my permission.They do anything they like to regardless of my teaching.OK,I’m not that angry.I tolerate all of this.But some of them insult me and make me feel embarassed and call up students from other class to watch my embarassment.That’s absolutely what I CAN’T stand. I don’t know what to do about this.
As a college student doing a report on teacher safety, it is rather discouraging to read all this. I am only a freshman. However, while observing a classroom for one of my collge courses, I was harrassed by a student within the first twenty minutes.
I would like to know if ‘Students Bullying’ translates into a teacher having ‘Poor Classroom Management’? This is the rationale of Administrators. So what is the counter-argument, if you are a teacher subjected to student bullying??
Thank you for your reply.
A devoted teacher in the NYC Public School System.
Ann
Ann,
Thank you for raising such an important question. Does student bullying translate into a teacher having poor classroom management? Wow, what a question! I’ll speak here in general terms because I don’t know the specific details.
To be honest, I think the answer is both yes and no. It’s complicated. I think that there are certain classroom management techniques that teachers can employ to greatly reduce classroom management and bullying problems, but teachers needs the support of administration so that students get the message that bullying the teacher is not acceptable. The word gets around. Some kids get their kicks out of bullying the teacher. They bully because they can. If administration doesn’t support the teacher, the kids get the message that they can continue to do it. Let’s not forget the parents. Parents need to know how their children behave at school. Parents also need to support the teacher.
It’s not OK to simply put the blame on the teacher, the victim of bullying. That’s just an easy way out of the problem for administration and parents. Administration needs to work together with the student-bully and the teacher. Fortunately, there’s lots of helpful PD out there for administration and for teachers.
Elona,
Thank you for your reply on the somewhat false assumption that “student bullying” goes ‘hand-in-hand’ with “poor teacher classroom management”.
I would like to pursue the following listed comments as follows:
1. Aren’t students supposed to have some ‘minimal’ respect for their teachers - which begins the first day of school and (ideally) continues to grow in respect as the teacher develops each lesson?
2. And what are the consequences that students should face if they disrespect the teacher from day one and then it gets progressively worse in time.
3. Could you possibly give 3 good things an administrator can do to support the teacher who is a victim of “student bullying” and it is already 7 months into the school year.
4. Do you think that a teacher who is a victim of “student bullying” should be given the right to a “hardship transfer”,.
Thank you, once again, for your support.
Yours sincerely,
Anna
Anna,
Let me answer your questions one at a time. My answers will be pretty general becasue I don’t know details.
1. Yes it would be nice if students had minimal respect for teachers, but some students don’t. I’ve found that with some students, I’ve had to show my respect for them before they would respect me- that seems counter intuitive.
2.I think it’s important to find out why the student feels that (s)he has to be disrespectful. I think it’s important for the teacher to be heard and for the student to be heard. I love it when the VP will sit down with me and a student to talk about respect. things get resolved when people talk face to face.
3. Things that administrators can do to support a teacher who is being bullied is
- make sure the student knows that the behaviour is bullying behaviour and it is against the law- at least here in Ontario
- make it clear to the student that bullying behaviour will not be tolerated and tell the students the consequences - detentions, suspension, explusions depending on the situation
- Make it clear to the teacher that the admin supports the teacher in this
Hope this helps
I’ve had almost all I can handle. Today was absolutely nasty.
I have a class of kids who is absolutely disrespectful - one has gone so far as to yell at me, call me names, using her cell phone (even though there ar rules about it),tell me not only am I stupid but so is anything that I do or have the class do. I have tried talking to her only to have her tell me that she’s not going to put up with this. I’m still trying to figure out what in god’s name ever set her off!!!! What’s worse is that she’s threatened me.
She told me that she hates my class and refuses to talk to me (to participate). She told me I’m always telling them to respect me, but refuses to respect me as a person.
I cried today. for the first time in front of students, I cried. I couldn’t help it. The other kids in this class won’t say anything to her because they are afraid of her. She got my cell phone number somehow and has now belligerently texted me, telling me how she’s going to get me into trouble with the principal, saying that I’m not going to make her stop belittling me in class.
This girl does her work. It’s the nasty comments she makes about it. It’s constant…I said “if you don’t want to do the work - then don’t - its your grade”. I’m not going to walk by someone who would rather stab me with a pen. She’s smart enough she can do the work - hands down - but if I don’t answer her immediately, she goes off the deep end.
I don’t even want to go to that class. Although some students are wonderful, I keep telling myself that it’s one kid - but that only goes so far because she is making me miserable and i’m finding it really difficult to do my job.
Valerie,
I’m sorry to hear that you’re being treated so badly by that student. No student has the right to treat you like that. It needs to stop at once. I don’t care if the student gets 100% that behaviour has to stop. I’m not sure what you have done yet but I would suggest you go to the spec. ed. support people and talk to them about the student. They probably already know about her. Get their support. They are trained to know what to do to help stop this behaviour. Also, I would go to the admin and ask for their support in dealing with the student. In a case like this, asking for support is not a sign of weakness. Spec. ed, counselling, and admin and home need to work together as a team to get this young lady to stop her bullying. I wouldn’t be surprised if that student is known to the office already. Document all this kid’s behaviour what she said and what she did. That’s important.Then you’ll have evidence of what went on. Include the strategies you have tried. Don’t think that you have to put up with this. You don’t. The admin is there to support you so access that support. They are there to give classroom teachers and students support. It must be awful for the other students too. They don’t like seeing you treated that way either. No one will think ill of you because you ask for help with such a bully. Don’t put up with it one more day. You deserve respect, not abuse. Let me know how things are going.
Dear Valerie…
Look up the Laws…
Human Rights Legislation
Ontario Health and Safety Act
Education Act
You have rights that are not being protected.
If you have any sick days left, go to your doctor, report this workplace bullying, and ask for a week or two off to process this abuse (stress)…phychological assault…
Then take some time to sort through the whole thing…Collect your thoughts, notes, and return fresh with a request for Admin and Union to support you in removing her.
You DON’T have to put up with this…any workplace who says you DO…is actually BREAKING THE LAW.
Just thought you should know.
My heart went out to you.
I was you last year.
Tamara,
Thank you so much for your advice. I’m sure this is going to be very helpful to lots of people.
Thank you so much Tamara, I sincerely appreciate this advice! I have started the process of the removing her, but was told that since its the last 5 weeks of school - “there is nothing they can do” - I told my principal that every time something happens then that I will file a disciplinary referral and she’ll have a pile on her desk.
Just to update you - she has been a LOT nicer to me…the guidance counselor told me today that the girl actually came to her - so I kind of wonder what is going to happen. Maybe the kid just needed a stress reliever and since i was the nicest I was the scapegoat for whatever she was dealing with???? it makes me wonder what is in store for this girl because what goes around comes around.
I have an unsettling story to tell.
After years as a homemaker, I became both financially and emotionally vested in an “alternative certification program” which would enable me to return to my first professional love, teaching. After months of study and preparation, the members of my student cohort were placed in public schools here in Texas for 2 weeks of “field experience.”
Although I had visited classrooms extensively, I somehow managed to pre-select for settings that were at least nominally conducive to the educational process. What I discovered at my assigned high school was like something from a horror movie. Put simply, a violence-prone subset of the student population was in charge of the school. They had devised seemingly endless rationalizations for their lack of self-discipline and their lack of respect for themselves and those around them. Teachers who attempted to call attention to the ways the school system was failing these students were, in turn, bullied by administrators. Fellow teachers would commiserate, and sigh, and step out of the line of fire.
When I attempted to discuss the violent acting out of a student (and a circle of his friends) with the appropriate Associate Principal, I was accused of racism. A sham investigation followed and within 24 hours I was removed from my assignment at the high school.
The effect of this action was to nullify my contractual relationship with the certification program. I am out thousands of dollars, have lost countless credit hours of study and my reputation has been impuned by a band of bullying prevaricating students.
My efforts to get counseling help for the students fell on deaf ears and resulted in false accusations against me. Because I am no longer at the school, nor any longer a member of the teacher certification program, I would have to turn to the courts to address the problems indemic to the school.
I was falsely accused of “inciting” the students’ violent acting out (despite their history of prior incidents.) The net effect was that I was bullied by the students, by the teacher of record with whom I was working (who stepped aside in self-protection), by the Associate Principal, by her supervising Principal and by both the Facilitator and Director of my certification program.
All these vissicitudes would be worth it, if only I knew that the students’ emotional and behavioral problems were being addressed by competent and truly compassionate educators. The system which is currently in place at the school guarantees that the students in their care will perceive bullying as the avenue to whatever they desire in life. Timid students will spend a lifetime acquiescing to administratively enabled tyrants. The long termm implications of a policy of “peace at any cost” are dire indeed.
I have located another program through which I may certify. I will have to begin my studies all over again. No matter, I am resilient. But what will I find in the next school…and the next? How far-reaching is this plague of tolerated tantrums and sanctioned incivility? Could the lack of support for embattled teachers be the real reason for the “teacher shortage”?
Your thoughts?
Sidney C. O’Keefe
scokeefe@hotamil.com
Sidney,
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. I’m truly sorry that you’ve had such a negative experience. What can I say! Let’s hope this experience is atypical. I admire your determination to continue despite everything. Good luck.
great advice Thank you. I am a 18 year teacher and new teacher mentor and this is the first time I have ever had a problem like this…I am being bullied by a parent. I admit that I have not been loved by all my parents, but usually I get along pretty well with them and I am often requested by parents in the grade below me. I am organized in the clasroom and a diligent teacher.
I have been working many hours night and weekends to accomidate this above level student, but anything I do is not good enough. Then the parent demands I do more to accomidate their child. Almost every day some pressing issue comes up that needs my attention. Sometimes 2 parents each ask for the same accomidation in the same day!!! (For example they want their children tested, again)
The rest of my class is suffering. I am stressing!!!Have you heard of this before? I am afraid of how far they might go with this. Thank goodness my principal supports what I am doing in the classroom. Have you thought about writing on this topic? I wonder if I can ban a parent from the classroom…eee-gad, I never imagined I would have to say that in my career!!!
MJ,
Without knowing all the details, I’d like to make some general comments.
1. I would meet with my resource teacher for the gifted and see what can be done reasonably in the way of differentiation or condensation.
2. Then I would meet with the mom , the resource teacher and someone from admin and even the student to plan out what can be done. I’d want admin there for sure.
2. I would them find a way for the mother to be involved in some way.Maybe once she sees that you are really supporting her child she may ease off a bit. This does happen.
3. If this doesn’t help, I would have to resign myself to the fact that this mother is difficult and I will have to live with the situation and try not to take it personally and not get bent out of shape. You can only do so much. I’d make sure that I take time to have some fun to help burn off the stress. That is really important for your physical and mental health.
Hope this help a bit. Maybe some other readers have ideas to share.
I thought i had it bad until I read your messages. I think that pupil teacher bullying is an awful thing and should be dealt with straight away. I have noticed that some student target me because I am a cover teacher and the try to see how far they can get. Ihave had personal comment made about me in the past few months a i deal with them quickly and efficiently by sending the instigator out of the class and shouting as loud as I could at him!!! he appologised and has stepped out of line since. However there are a few intimdating girls who are 16 and they have repeatedly made comments about my appearance (things iam already self consiouse about) and when i hear them muttering under their breath and laughing at me I cant help but to loose confidence and shy away from tackling this issue. i worry that If i do bring it up they might tell other students to poke fun at me because they know what buttons to push. people hate teachers who bully students but can you blame them when if they didnt go for the jugular they themselves would get bullied???? what do you think i should do about these girls??? i dont want the problem to escallate and if i get on the wrong side of them or punish them im scarred incase theyll speard these derogatry comments.
It’s really difficult to give advice for specific situations without knowing all the details. Generally, when I cover for another teacher and students seem disrespectful in any way I will make a point of taking a couple of minutes to talk to them in a friendly manner just about general things. If they continue to be disrespectful, I will say something like “Why are you being disrespectful to me when I’m not being disrespectful to you?” That generally stops the behaviour. I also try to catch students doing something good so I can be positive. It’s hard when the class is not your own, that’s for sure.