School staff are being struck more often, students are fighting more frequently, and police are increasingly being called to school grounds, according to data compiled and released this week by the .
The union counted 4,052 violent or aggressive incidents that were reported to either school board administrators or the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, making an average of 22 incidents inside of schools in the province every school day.
That's the highest it's been since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person learning in 2020.
鈥淚t鈥檚 only a matter of time before something more significant happens,鈥 said Trent Langdon, president of the union. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had circumstances in this province in recent years鈥 of weapons being on the lot (school grounds).鈥
鈥淢y worry as head of this association is that one of my members or a student is going to get severely injured or worse in the days and years to come.鈥
The NLTA compiled their report by requesting data from the province鈥檚 English school district, the RCMP, and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.
Across just about every metric included in the report 鈥 fighting, choking, threats and harassment 鈥 violence has gotten worse over the past three school years.
The Royal newfoundland Constabulary, which patrols in St. John鈥檚, Corner Brook and the Labrador West region, was called to schools 178 times in the 2023-2024 school year, compared to 111 times the year prior.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing it on a broader spectrum in the schools,鈥 said Jerry Earle, the president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees. His union represents student assistants, who work one-on-one with students with learning disabilities, or particular physical or cognitive needs.
鈥淏eing around a (violent) workplace and directly sometimes involved, it takes a significant toll,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he work that our student assists do with our kids with exceptionalities so they can be part of our schools is challenging enough. It's stressful enough.鈥
Ontario鈥檚 teachers have found much the same 鈥 over the summer, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers鈥 Federation released the results of a school violence survey that found reported school violence is increasing in that province.
According to the results from the survey, about 30 per cent of union members reported being personally targeted by physical force 鈥 including the majority of education assistants, child and youth workers and early childhood educators.
鈥淲e shouldn't be normalizing this,鈥 said Karen Littlewood, the president of the teachers鈥 federation.
鈥淚 go into a Canada Post office and it says 鈥榲iolence (and) harassment will not be tolerated.鈥 That's in the doctor's office. That's in stores. We don't get to say that in education.鈥
Littlewood doesn鈥檛 agree that the COVID-19 pandemic was a starting point 鈥 she says issues with school staffing and resources have stretched back years and are the root cause of violence in schools.
鈥淚 think we have to start by addressing the mental health issues of students, but we have to do that when they enter school. We can鈥檛 be saying, when you have a 17-year-old and there鈥檚 an incident that happens, 鈥極h, well, we should have done something.鈥欌
She said many of her members don鈥檛 even bother to report violent incidents because their class sizes are still high, the paperwork is daunting, and they don鈥檛 feel much will change.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, officials at the Department of Education have brought in more school administrators and guidance counsellors across the school system and have created new positions, including one for a student services teaching and learning assistant.
鈥淭o date, feedback on these newly assigned positions has been positive and will inform any future expansion of the position,鈥 Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell said in a statement.
鈥淭he Department of Education鈥檚 approach to violence prevention in schools focuses heavily on social emotional learning and self-regulation to limit or eliminate reactionary responses.鈥
Earle says Newfoundland and Labrador鈥檚 schools aren鈥檛 inherently violent 鈥 but the trend is worrying, and it's time to intervene.
鈥淲e should be thinking about our kids and we should be thinking about that all the persons that work in our education system, and I think it鈥檚 something that we need to sit at the table and turn our attention to and figure out why has this happened.鈥
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