On sick leave since she was hit in the head by a child, a young specialized educator from the Laurentians is apprehensive about her return to school, where she realizes that she has to deal with increasingly aggressive students.
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“Every day I get bitten, punched and kicked. I have lifelong scars on my body. How far does it have to go before something changes? launches the specialized educator, who requested anonymity to avoid reprisals from her employer.
At a time when the education sector is suffering from a shortage of personnel, its history is far from being trivial or unprecedented.
Last spring, after having received several blows to the head by a primary-age student, she explains that she had a “click” on what she and her colleagues experience on a daily basis. A concussion and post-traumatic stress later, the young woman now wishes to testify to the reality of her profession, where the violence suffered is too often trivialized.
She does not know if she will resume her post in the fall. For the moment, this prospect alone gives him a great feeling of anxiety.
“The education system is bad. Something is going to have to happen, because right now everyone is exhausted. We spend our time putting out fires to light others,” she laments.
Normalized aggressiveness
In the classes, the students are more and more aggressive and turbulent, says the educator. But when the situation is explained to the parents, some refuse to see the problem. Most of the time, the school sides with the parents and the staff are left to fend for themselves.
“We are at the end of our resources, but we have no help. We rarely talk about behind the scenes and parents who don’t want to know anything about collaborating with us. It makes things so much more difficult,” said the young woman.
Recently graduated, the educator contemplates her future with anguish. Is his passion for children enough to overcome the psychological scars caused by workplace violence?
“I still don’t know what I’m going to do with my life. The situation in schools is getting worse. Do I really have to sacrifice my health for it?” she asks herself, worried.
Not a unique case
According to an article from Log published last February, the number of teachers or special educators who were compensated by the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) after being victims of aggressive students has climbed 65% since 2018.
Even if she can refuse to work with certain students, the educator from the Laurentians explains that this is not a long-term solution.
“Of course, I can refuse to work with the coco who hit me, but the school explained to me that if I did that, I could be cut off for hours. So I have no choice but to endure the blows if I want to work full time,” she laments.