As OSBCU members know well, violence against staff in school boards across Ontario has reached a critical level. Every day, school board workers across the province are experiencing growing levels of violence, in large part due to the underfunding and understaffing crises in public education.
A new report published by Dr. Chris Bruckert, Professor of Criminology at the University of Ottawa, Dr. Darcy Santor, Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Ottawa, and coauthored by University of Ottawa PhD students Darby Mallory and Hanya Ismail, Running on Fumes: Violence, Austerity, and Institutional Neglect in Ontario Schools, chronicles thousands of incidents of violence reported by almost 6,000 education workers in Ontario. CUPE school board workers made up 52 percent of the sample size of those interviewed.
The report clearly shows that incidents of violence in the workplace are growing and causing extreme systemic issues at schools for students and staff alike. Students are going without the supports they need and education workers, who are already running on fumes, are expected to give more and more of themselves.