The drums of violence against teachers have been beating for a long time, but now they resound louder than ever. According to the latest surveys by the Independent Trade Union Center and Civil Servants (CSIF), an overwhelming percentage of 90% of teachers surveyed claims to have experienced some cases of violence in the classrooms and another 75% affirm that they have lost respect and level of authority.
Furthermore, a quarter of those interviewed say or think that working life at the educational center is neither very pleasant nor pleasant. It is not a problem alien to anyone; Parents’ associations are aware of the situation and demand more means to combat violence in the classrooms. The problem could be in new forms of socialization and misuse of the Internet.
Violence according to the Independent Trade Union Center of Civil Servants
With a sample of 3,000 teachers interviewed, the result of this study has raised alarm bells both in the media and in the Ministry of Education itself. Although schools are created with the objective of educating, it seems that nonviolence, one of the fundamental principles to socialize and participate in any culture, loses presence in the classrooms. Physical or verbal violence seems to be present in the work of most teachers.
As if that were not enough, other indicators in the study show more signs of the effects of violence in the classrooms. The numbers are the following: 55% of teachers claim that there is a lot of violence in the classrooms, 28% believe that the relationship with parents is bad or very bad, and another 20% of those surveyed acknowledge having a poor relationship with their students. Certainly, there is cause for concern if the trend is not reversed.
The CSIF presented the study a little over a week ago, and its presenter, Mario Gutiérrez, opened the session by openly acknowledging the seriousness of the situation: “it is tremendously worrying.” The study is blunt: If this child violence is not corrected, it will become adult violence It is no longer a question of respecting the teacher, but rather oneself and others.
The authors of the study point to possible causes of this phenomenon: the lack of authority of the teacher (without a doubt the most relevant), the access that students have to any type of violent content through the Internet and the little recognition that teachers have. by society.
Not so long ago, the teacher was the second most important figure for young people, after fathers and mothers. The education that the children received was complemented by the school. This chain of transmission of socializing values, Gutiérrez assures, has been interrupted.
The unions warn of this latent lack of authority, since in many cases The teachers claim not to have control of the situation and feel humiliated by the student himself even when he is very young. It is especially noteworthy that some teachers claim to be incapable of kicking students out of class when they behave inappropriately. The teachers claim the lack of support from their superiors, the competent authorities but, above all, from the parents when they meet with them. “The majority do not accept criticism of their children,” explained a teacher in the presentation of the study results.
Another classic of our times could not be missed from the event: social networks. The creators of the study affirm that very young students, between 12 and 16 years old, cause situations of bullying and harassment at extreme levels. The union points to the bad practice on the part of fathers and mothers of giving away mobile devices at communions. “They don’t know how to manage their egos and they lose respect for their colleagues 24 hours a day.” From this perspective, social networks like Instagram promote a constant competition for influence over others violence being one more way to earn that precious respect.
Apart from the recent CSIF study, there are other reports on action and prevention of violence in classrooms that recommend some measures to stop this wave of abuse of teachers. And the situation requires it, according to the most pessimistic points of view. The Teacher’s Defender association claimed that threats and attacks against educators by students have multiplied by five in recent years.
For this reason, the CSIF has proposed a series of measures that demand urgent implementation, such as making a State pact to that public educational centers have a psychological support department for this type of incidents, or implement an updated school coexistence plan. In the short term, more training is demanded for teachers to be able to combat the harmful influence of the misuse of new technologies, such as WhatsApp or Facebook.
