Behind the rise in 'school rage'

By Mike Baker BBC education correspondent

I have not witnessed many fights in my time, I'm glad to say.

There was a time when the school teacher was a figure of authority in the community

Some were in the playground, some on the sports pitch, and others on the soccer terraces.

But these days aggression sprouts in many more places: At queues in shopping centres, between enraged motorists and, in what appears to be the latest trend, in and around schools.

A while back, after dropping my daughter at primary school, I had to stand between two raging parents.

A woman was intent on adding blows to the insults she was throwing at a man who had complained about the selfish and dangerous way she had parked her car outside the school gates.

It was not the best parental example to set the children who were watching, goggle-eyed.

This week, as the union conference season began, the issue of violent behaviour in schools emerged as one of the dominating concerns of teachers.

It prompted a swift response from the Education Secretary, Estelle Morris, who - unusually for a politician - decided to criticise parents.

Just the facts

But is there really an upsurge of violence against teachers?

Regrettably there are few reliable or comprehensive statistics. However there are indications that we could be seeing a sudden upswing in assaults.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers says the number of physical assaults on its members has risen from 34 a year in 1998 to 125 last year. These figures cover assaults by both pupils and parents.

The NASUWT has also seen an inexplicable spike in reports of assaults from its members.

These normally number between 50 and 60 a year. But last year, in the spring and summer terms alone, this jumped to more than 100.

The third big teachers' union, the NUT, does not share this pattern. Its members reported 52 cases of assault last year, up from 45 the year before.

But figures from the NAHT head teachers' association are more in line with the ATL and NASUWT trend.

It receives about 100 reports of assaults on its members each year. But in just the first few months of this year it has already received as many reports as in the whole of last year.

Underlying cause

Now, these figures do not give a very full or accurate picture. Only a minority of the assaults are by parents - although no-one knows for sure where the balance lies between assaults by students and assaults by their parents.

education policies have emphasised parental rights rather than responsibilities.

Also the unions define "assault" in different ways, and these short-term spikes in the graph may yet be smoothed out by longer term trends.

But usually it is only the more serious assaults, probably involving injuries, which get reported to the unions' legal departments.

So, if there is a sudden rise in violence against school staff, what is the explanation?

A cause is not, of course, an excuse. But finding out why assaults happen could help schools and parents find some solutions.

Partly, I suspect, it is that we live in a more frenetic, impatient, stressed age.

It is also a less deferential age. There was a time when the school teacher was a figure of authority in the community and parents would hardly dare challenge, let alone abuse them.

Rights

The same factors have led to "road rage" and "air rage".

This is evident in the furrowed brows of the parents skidding to a halt at the school gate, waving their kids goodbye while simultaneously talking to the office on the mobile phone and swearing at the car in front that has boxed them in.

Let's be honest about this, teachers are not always relaxed and patient

But there are additional factors which are unique to schools.

One is the cumulative effect of several years of education policies which have emphasised parental rights rather than responsibilities.

Parents are now entitled to league tables, Ofsted reports, and annual governors' meetings.

All this is at it should be. But it has fed a consumerist model of schooling.

The parent is a customer who is entitled to information and who can shop around if unhappy.

Tea and sympathy

Except that shopping around is rarely a real option: Alternative schools may be too far away or simply full.

So what else can the unhappy consumer do but complain?

There is nothing wrong with this: Parents are entitled to their views and governing bodies should take account of them.

In an ideal world, a parent with a complaint will be ushered into the head teacher's office, given a cup of tea, and offered a sympathetic ear.

A polite exchange of views, if not always a solution, should follow.

But life isn't like that these days. Parents are often stressed: They have got to get to work or back to their car which is parked on a double yellow line.

And, let's be honest about this, teachers are not always relaxed and patient.

Under fire

As we know from the unions' complaints over workload, teachers and head teachers work very long hours and feel over-burdened by paperwork.

This hardly puts them in the best frame of mind to deal patiently and sympathetically with angry or upset parents.

Another contributory factor may be the heightened sensitivity to criticism that teachers can feel when they are bombarded by Ofsted reports and comparative league tables.

Any of us who are under pressure, struggling against the odds to meet tough performance targets, knows that this is not the best preparation for dealing with customer complaints.

Another factor is that schools are now much more open to parents.

Closer ties

Again, this is mostly a good thing. No-one wants to go back to the days when parents were effectively halted at the school gate. But this has reduced parents' fears of schools.

Maybe head teachers could hold weekly advice surgeries, where parents are encouraged to come in and talk about their concerns

Not so long ago most parents would not have seen the inside of a school since their own school days. They probably still feared the head teacher as much as when they where young.

That mystique and distance has gone. For the vast majority of parents this is good as it encourages a sense of partnership between teacher and parent.

But in some troublesome cases it encourages interference, complaints and in-your-face aggression.

Possible solutions

One response to this upsurge in violence is practical: Panic-buttons, telephones, video cameras in classrooms.

After all if you assault a bus driver, you are likely to be caught on camera and the driver can summon help by short-wave radio. Maybe teachers need the same protection?

Maybe we also need signs of the sort you see on buses and trains warning the public they will be prosecuted if they assault the company's staff.

But perhaps there are some preventive measure too.

When my children were at school for a time in the USA, the teachers gave out their home phone numbers and urged us to call if there were any problems.

Expressing a grievance early on can prevent pent-up frustration.

Research needed

Maybe head teachers could hold weekly advice surgeries, where parents are encouraged to come in and talk about their concerns before they build up into major problems?

Perhaps parents who find it hard to express themselves verbally could turn to a neutral intermediary to help put across their complaints? Maybe school governors or members of the parents' association could fulfil this role.

I know that when I was a school governor, some parents found it easier to come to a fellow parent with their concerns rather than to go directly to the head teacher.

Violence and aggression against teachers is unforgivable and contributes to the teacher shortage which potentially threatens our children's education.

Some parents will never see reason. Using the power of the law is the only way to deal with them, be it a banning order, a parenting order or criminal prosecution.

But it is time we had some harder evidence and research into how many parents are getting aggressive, what causes it, and how it might sometimes be prevented.

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