The plight to stop children from bullying others is a hard enough task, What makes it even more difficult, is the fact that the very same people entrusted with controlling the issue are bullied themselves:
BULLYING of staff is rife within Australian schools, with parents and students among the top perpetrators, research reveals.
A staggering 95 per cent of educators claimed they had experienced at least one of 42 bullying behaviours identified by the researchers.
The most common was personal confrontation or professional destabilisation, often resulting in a deterioration of mental and physical health.
The new book Bullying of Staff in Schools – to be launched by former defence force chief Peter Cosgrove tomorrow – examines bullying where an adult is either the perpetrator or the target.
Researchers Dan Riley, Deirdre Duncan and John Edwards surveyed 2529 employees at schools across all sectors. Respondents reflected the national profile of 83 per cent female and 27 per cent male educators.
Two-thirds were teachers – more than 50 per cent had 21 years or more teaching experience – one in five executives and one in 15 principals.
According to the research, 81 per cent experienced bullying from parents, and 79 per cent named colleagues, closely followed by executives.
Students were named as bullies by 75 per cent of respondents, about seven percentage points higher than principals.
The principal was identified as the most persistent bully, followed by members of the executive and colleagues.
Educators said the most common form of bullying behaviour was questioning decisions, judgment and procedures, followed by tasks set with unreasonable or impossible targets or deadlines, and then being exposed to an unmanageable workload.
This highlights the uselessness of bullying policies and programs. For us to get on top of this problem, we must address bullying of all natures to all parties. Until the culture of bullying is remedied from the Principal down, our children have no chance!
Topical Teaching 