Saturday, February 17, 2007

Not (really) assaulted

It's quite typical how many (if not most) teachers, social workers, nurses, doctors and others in similar professions tend to view some forms of verbal and physical harassment/violence as "nothing serious".

Each episode may not be that damaging, but we tend to forget two major things:
1. The sum of all the episodes may add up to be simply too much to handle.
2. If we accept the "lesser incidents", then we are opening the flood-gates for more serious situations.

This article is from 2002, but it shows what many teachers have to deal with on a daily basis. And this will continue as long as teachers are not allowed to use any form of force what-so-ever, plus being skilled in keeping control - visually, mentally, verbally, non-verbally, strategically and physically.

Story:
She has been kicked, bitten, scratched, pushed and hit - but the Doncaster primary school teacher does not consider she has been assaulted.

It is all part of the job nowadays, she says - "water off a duck's back".

Proposing the motion - which was passed unanimously - The teacher told delegates at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers conference that teachers' human rights were breached on a daily basis as they grew to accept verbal and physical attacks.

Source

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