Ontario education workers face 'shockingly high' rates of workplace violence, new report says

Ontario education workers face "shockingly high" rates of workplace violence, with 70 per cent of those surveyed saying they have been subjected to some form of physical force, a new report says.

The report, In Harm's Way, The Epidemic of Violence Against Education Sector Workers in Ontario, by University of Ottawa researchers, says workplace violence against education workers is being normalized. 

According to the research, released Monday, workers reported being hit, kicked, punched, slapped, choked, scratched, strangled, spat at, head butted, kneed in the crotch, and threatened and sometimes cut with scissors. They also described getting hit with objects that people had thrown at them.

"The things that some of the participants were saying were really troubling, really tragic, really traumatic. You can tell that they have not been acknowledged before, and this was thousands of respondents," said Brittany Mario, co-author of the report. 

Researchers surveyed 3,854 education workers, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), between Feb. 3, 2020, and March 13, 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Workers were asked about their experiences of harassment and violence during the 2018-2019 school year.

The researchers did not include teachers, choosing to focus instead on education assistants, early childhood educators, child and youth workers and school support staff.

Mario, a doctoral candidate in the University of Ottawa department of criminology, said the research shows violence in schools is now considered part of the reality of working in Ontario's elementary and secondary school system. She called education workers a "commonly overlooked group."

"There were responses that talked about hiding bruises. There were responses that talked about suffering from very serious [post traumatic stress disorder], of needing psychological therapy twice a week, of being on medication," she said.

"Part of what I think is also the most troubling is how minimized this is. Nobody feels heard. That's really what we saw in a lot of the responses — that the violence is normalized. It's now just considered part of the job: 'Well, you signed up for this,'" she added.

Most educational assistants went into the field to help students, but they have become subjected to violent days in their workplace, she said.

"It should absolutely not be an expectation of an educational assistant," she said.

Mario noted that most education workers are female and the violence is not only violence in the classroom but also violence against women.

Other findings from the report include:

• 89 per cent of survey respondents experienced a threat, attempt, or act of physical violence from one or more sources. including students, parents, colleagues, or administrators, during the 2018-2019 school year. "Overwhelmingly, the violence was perpetrated by students," the report says. 
• Workplace violence rates for educational assistants are among the highest of any occupation.
• Workplace violence rates for education sector workers are on the rise. 
• Workplace violence can be severe and result in significant injuries, including concussions, fractures, dislocated joints, back and head injuries, infections, and whiplash. 
• In any single year, 95 per cent of classroom-based and support staff workers experienced some form of harassment from one or more sources, including put-downs, obscene gestures from students, comments that ridicule, demean or offend and the spreading of false accusations.
• Harassment and violence are repetitive and ongoing experiences. 
• Workplace harassment and violence have profound lasting impacts, with 87 per cent indicating that harassment and violence had a substantial impact on their lives
• Rates of post-traumatic stress disorder are "shockingly high." 
• One in 10 participants experienced a workplace reprisal for reporting harassment.
• Women experience higher levels of workplace harassment and violence and more impacts
• Respondents with a disability reported higher levels of harassment from coworkers and administrators than educators who did not identify as disabled.
• BIPOC workers report higher rates of workplace reprisals for reporting incidents of harassment and violence.

The report recommends: adequate resources for students; support for education sector workers; and additional training.

Mario said the problem is structural and more funding is needed for education. Students are not violent perpetuators, she added.

"There is a desperate need for resources in classrooms, in schools, not the removal of funding, but rather, the addition of funding. We need more EAs in classrooms," she said.

Province needs to address violence, former EA says

Laura Walton, president of CUPE's Ontario School Board Council of Unions and an educational assistant for 20 years, said she's experienced violence herself.

"Overall, my career as an EA has been extremely rewarding, but I did experience violence in the workplace. I have scars from being scratched. I had my jaw dislocated at one point," she said.

"It's not about a lack of training. It's just about a lack of support that is available to these students. We just don't have adequate resources. Listen, nobody goes to work, or should go to work, expecting violent outcomes. Everybody should be able to come home from work whole. Education is no different."

Walton said the recommendations, if acted upon, would make a difference.

"What our team will be doing is starting to have conversations at a provincial level but also at a local level," she said. 

"It's time to have conversations and look at how are we addressing violent incidents in our schools. Right now, we know that it's a problem."