(Montreal) There is a marked increase in violence in schools and as a result, it is urgent to send the message that it is “zero tolerance” in Quebec, says the Centrale des unions du Québec (CSQ). The union organization wants the government to take the lead in launching a prevention campaign.
In a press briefing held in Montreal on Monday, the president of the CSQ insisted that the school network “cannot tolerate” violent events that occur in schools. It can be “bite in preschool, or death threats for high school and college teachers”, illustrates Éric Gingras.
“Often, we will try to understand the gesture that has been made, we will trivialize gestures by saying: these are only words,” says Mr. Gingras.
The president of the CSQ says he “felt an opening” from the Minister of Education Bernard Drainville to tackle these questions head-on. He calls for setting up a prevention campaign that could unite different actors in the network.
“We want all of society to understand [qu’un geste de violence]it will have consequences: supervision with the parents, ”illustrates Mr. Gingras.
In a survey conducted by the Federation of School Support Staff in the fall, three-quarters of school support staff (74%) said they had experienced violence during the 2021-2022 year.
The most frequently reported violence was verbal in nature, including shouting (58%), profanity (57%) and swearing (51%).
The three confinements suffered in November in three distinct CEGEPs should also raise awareness, says the president of the CSQ.
“We were told sometimes, especially in college, that we don’t want to do exercises so as not to traumatize young people,” he illustrates. “It is by not talking about it that we traumatize young people”, continues Éric Gingras.