Prevalence and Impact of Harassment and Violence against Educators in Canada

ABSTRACT

Research examining the rates, frequency, and impact of harassment and violence that elementary school educators experience from students, parents, colleagues, and administrators is sparse. Over 1000 educators from publicly funded elementary schools in Ontario completed surveys assessing the rate, frequency, and impact of various forms of harassment (e.g., insults, false accusations) and violence (i.e., acts, attempts, and threats of physical violence) in the 2018–2019 school year. Results showed that educators reported both high rates and frequent incidents of violence and harassment and that the impact of violence and harassment was equitable in terms of physical health, mental health, and classroom learning environment, as well as job performance and commitment. Results suggest substantially higher prevalence rates than reported in prior, available research.

KEYWORDS:

• harassment
• violence
• educators
• mental health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Costs were calculated using the average per diem rate provided by the Elementary Teacher’s Federation of Ontario.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Notes on contributors

Darcy A. Santor

Dr. Darcy A. Santor is a professor of psychology at the University of Ottawa and a practicing clinical psychologist. He has a long-standing interest in mental health in young people and in school-based mental health.

Chris Bruckert

Dr. Chris Bruckert is a professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa. The author of Gendered violence in Canada: An intersectional approach (2018), she has been actively involved in teaching about and mobilizing against, gendered violence for over twenty-five years.

Kyle McBride

Kyle McBride is a student in the clinical psychology doctoral program in the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa.