UTU IN FIGHT TO OUTLAW VIOLENCE AGAINST PUBLIC SECTOR STAFF

Teachers have joined in the campaign to outlaw violence against public sector workers.

At this year’s ICTU conference in Derry (APRIL 27-28) the UTU is introducing a motion to raise pubic awareness of what it says is a growing worry.

“Public sector workers often find themselves in the front line when it comes to dealing with people in stressful or difficult situations but we note with anxiety the growing number of reported cases of abuse against them,” said Avril Hall Callaghan, General Secretary of the UTU, Northern Ireland’s only locally-based teaching union.

“Violence must never be seen as acceptable and when incidents arise – whether in the classroom because of abusive pupils or outside because of parents – it is imperative teachers have the assurance of back-up and support.

“Teachers already have the powers they need to manage bad behaviour but many fear retribution if they were to forcibly remove an unruly pupil, for instance.

"Myths that schools should have 'no-contact policies', that teachers shouldn't be able to protect and defend themselves and others, need to be dispelled but teachers need to know that support is there for them if they do have to use such reasonable force to handle a situation.

“Teachers must feel safe to act when pupils are, for instance, fighting and could hurt each other and where a pupil is deliberately damaging property.

"We do know that there's a very high level of concern about children being touched at all and the sad truth is that in the litigious society in which we live it could be all too easy for a teacher to find themselves the subject of an action simply for trying to break up a fight.”

Ms Hall Callaghan also referred to the special school sector where she said ‘endemic violence’ should not be tolerated.

“Teachers in special schools should not be expected to tolerate abuse in the classroom as part of their job,” she said, commenting on a new survey which revealed that three-quarters of teachers in special schools struggle to cope with disruption on a daily basis.
A further two-fifths reported being verbally abused every day with one in five facing intimidation and one in 10 actually being attacked.
“The survey was carried out among colleagues in England but sadly it reflects the experiences of our members here in Northern Ireland too with valuable teaching hours being lost every week as teachers spend time dealing with disruptive pupils,” said Ms Hall Callaghan.
“Too many still feel they don’t get enough understanding about the difficulties they face in the classroom and often feel there’s little point reporting cases because the support isn’t there to deal with them.
“Being abused or assaulted should never be tolerated in any workplace, yet it appears that there is a certain endemic level of abuse being directed at teachers working in specialist settings as well as an unspoken understanding that such behaviours are to be expected as part of the job.
“There must be no expectation that teachers should have to tolerate assaults or abuse at work by virtue of the pupils they teach."