The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

The violence in the schools: "If doctors are not expected to break up fights - why are teachers?" | Israel today

2023-01-24T06:50:30.541Z


The education system is at a loss in the face of the increasing violence - between the students and between them and the teachers and administrators • Ministry of Education: "In an incident of violence between students, the teaching staff is expected to stop the harm as much as possible" • M., teacher: "It is the job of the security guard, not the teacher, to intervene in quarrels "


As in the hospitals and clinics, the scourge of violence has recently been increasing among the youth - attacking bus drivers, getting involved in gang wars, pulling out knives and stabbing.

The phenomenon is also prevalent among students in schools, and the principals and teachers are at a loss.

Many of them feel exposed in the system, which also expects them to separate the hawks - but does not give them backup.

"After I got punched in the face in a fight between students, I decided that I don't separate anymore, there is a limit," says M., a teacher in the education system.

"If doctors are not expected to break up fights in the emergency room, why do we expect it from teachers? Hospitals have security guards and that's their job, schools also have security guards, so why should teachers intervene and break up fights? Let the security guard separate. This is lawlessness that started a long time ago, and now we're starting to see the the results".

M. says that in a conversation with her students on the subject, "They gave a case of the student from Ashdod who was beaten at school while the teacher was trying to separate them, and asked simply - 'Where was the security guard?'

They explained that it gives them security that there is a security guard, but they didn't understand why he wasn't doing anything. I didn't know what to answer them."

When we contacted the Ministry of Education this week about the explosive issue, we were told that "in an incident of violence between students, the teaching staff is expected to stop the harm as much as possible and to ensure the safety of those involved. It is recommended that they use other factors, depending on the possibilities and the situation."

The Ministry of Education in Jerusalem, photo: Oren Ben Hakon

In the Ministry of Education, they mean staff members who are around, teachers on duty and the like.

That is, they don't really have a solution to the issue, such as the intervention of a security guard at the event.

There is no backup

Another issue is the question of backing up teachers.

Many of them claim that in the event that the hawks are separated and one of the students claims that they hurt him - the system will not back them up in front of him or the parents.

"There is a conflict here," explains S., another teacher.

"If a student claims that during the separation during a case of violence, the teacher accidentally hit him, injured him, or accidentally put her hand near an intimate organ, no one will stand behind her - not the school, not the local authority, not the Ministry of Education."

Another teacher Halina: "A teacher who separates students is exposed to a lawsuit from their parents, and from that moment his career is in danger - complaints, letters, demands for dismissal will be sent about him. Can make his life miserable."

"Gift" for the principal: a shock grenade

Last week, another sad record of violence was broken, with the arrest of two students aged 15 and 17 from Ramla, on suspicion of leaving a bag containing a stun grenade at their school as a "gift" to the principal.

One of the boys asked to speak with her and when refused by the school guard, he left the "gift" from his friend at the entrance gate and fled the scene.

In recent months, the Teachers' Union launched an application system for teaching staff, which also collects data on cases of violence.

The data is still partial, but reveals quite a few cases of violence against school staff.

Since the beginning of the school year - only four months - more than 300 cases of threats against teachers, throwing chairs at them, pushing and more have been collected.

Fear of parents

According to Michael Pinto, Deputy Secretary General of the Histadrut of Teachers and Chairman of the Trade Union Division, "There is an increase in the number of cases, but also in their severity. Each time we are surprised by how far the red lines and limits of violence are crossed, both by students and their parents, towards the educational staff.

"It's violence that weakens across all age groups, and it's getting much more serious. Until you see it with your own eyes, you don't really understand the severity, and we know that there are many incidents of violence that go unreported."

Pinto points out that "in some cases, teachers or administrators do not report due to fear of the parents or because of fear of stigma for the school. Not a week goes by that I do not deal with several cases of violence against teaching staff or administrators, extreme things that we did not know - parents wreaking havoc in the principal's room, throwing equipment on the floor , they tell her 'we know where you live'.

"In another case, a student who was asked to leave the class clung to the teacher and pushed him against the blackboard. This is a student from a family with a criminal background, and the teacher says that since then he simply fears for his safety and the safety of his children. In any such case, we demand that the school be shut down, but the principal does not always allow it. Yes, it is important We want a complaint filed with the police and an intervention plan."

The Ministry of Education stated in response that "Every person is exposed to lawsuits, but civil servants are represented by the state and can be assisted by the legal protection of the 'Inbal' company. In addition to the legal processes, the directors of the educational institutions, inspectors and medical personnel accompany events of this type and provide backup and support."

were we wrong

We will fix it!

If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2023-01-24

You may like

News/Politics 2024-02-20T14:32:03.985Z
Life/Entertain 2024-02-16T14:11:51.955Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.