Teachers report increased threats from students, parents that’s driving the educators to quit

Psychologists and educators say there’s never been a worse time in America to be a teacher thanks to COVID-19.

Masks, vaccine mandates, social distancing, curriculum fights, book bans and hybrid learning have contributed to reports of a rise in violent threats from distressed students and parents.

An American Psychological Association survey of 14,966 educators found that 33% of U.S. teachers have experienced at least one instance of verbal harassment or violent threats from students during the pandemic. Another 29% have experienced it from parents.

Teachers are feeling fed up, as a result, 49% of all teachers want to quit or transfer.

“I have been physically assaulted multiple times by students in the building and they know that not only is there no one to stop them, but there will be no consequences either,” wrote one teacher in response to an open-ended survey question. “I ended up in the hospital the last time it happened.”

The survey, which was released Thursday, focused on educators in public schools. It was conducted from July 2020 to June 2021. It does not have a pre-pandemic comparison study, but APA psychologists said it indicates a clear increase in teacher burnout.

“The findings from this landmark study are a stark reminder of the obvious: problematic behaviors increase when anyone is distressed,” said Tammy L. Hughes, an APA fellow and a professor of psychology at Duquesne University.

She urged schools to respond in a “trauma-informed manner” that reduces stress for their teachers, students, parents and communities.

“A welcoming supportive environment, even in the presence of adversity, is how to move from the cycle of punishment and rejection that contributes to teacher desires to leave the profession to a place where we can recognize the need for a safe school community for all,” Ms. Hughes said.

Becky Pringle, president of the National Educators Association teachers union, said she has seen “a worrisome rise in both verbal and physical attacks” over the past two years — a problem she said is worse at schools that cannot afford counselors and social workers amid “a dire educator shortage.” 

“While the sources and motivations behind violence in schools vary greatly, the solutions are clear as day: more staff, more training, and more attention to mental health needs,” Ms. Pringle said. “This crisis of violence should unite educators, students, families, and politicians around the common goal of ensuring that our public schools are the safest, healthiest, and most just places in our communities.”

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said the APA data should be “a wake-up call.”

“We’re already facing a staffing crisis and we can’t afford to lose dedicated teachers,” said Ms. Weingarten, whose teachers union is the second largest in the U.S. with 1.7 million members. 

U.S. school districts have reported hundreds of thousands of job openings for administrators, teachers and staff during the current academic year as educators have fled the profession.

Strategies ranging from hiring bonuses to bringing back retired teachers have failed to resolve the shortage.

On top of teacher burnout, the APA study found that school administrators fared even worse: 37% reported at least one incident of harassment or threat of violence from a student and 42% reported the same from a parent.

Additionally, 34% of all school psychologists and social workers said they wanted to quit or transfer elsewhere.

About 14% of teachers, 18% of school psychologists and social workers, 15% of school administrators and 22% of other school staff reported experiencing actual violence from students during the pandemic.

Steven Turner, a psychology teacher in the social studies department at Albemarle High School in Charlottesville, Virginia, said teachers who have endured want to feel they have “equal value” to others in their schools.

“When teachers become concerned for their safety or see colleagues facing unaddressed violence and harassment, it has a dehumanizing effect, causing teachers to seek out places where they feel valued and respected,” Mr. Turner said. 

For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.