One in 7 teachers hit by students

One in seven primary school teachers were hit by their students last year, a New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) survey has found.

The study also found more than 50 per cent of teachers and more than 25 per cent of school support staff reported "aggressive verbal confrontations" with students.

The responses of 67 principals, 150 teachers and 75 support staff were analysed.

The most common assaults involved students pushing, shoving or shouldering teachers, followed by "punched or struck with open hand" and "kicked or stomped".

Other reported being "scratched, kicked" and "hit by object".

Some of the attacks were not covered by the survey, so respondents wrote them in – one noted "spat in face", another was headbutted.

Year 3 students accounted for nearly 60 per cent of the assaults, and, nine times out of ten, boys were the ones hitting their teachers.

The most common event leading up to the attacks involved children contesting staff members' directions, followed by attacks resulting from attempts to restrain the children from hitting others.

Twenty per cent of teachers and support staff said they had been verbally abused by parents – often in front of their children.

"Parents are becoming an increasing problem, very verbal over very minor problems. (They show) very poor modelling for children," one principal said.

NZEI acting national manager Peter Monteith said violent students "seriously undermine the teaching and learning process." "The survey is a `wake up call' for everyone involved in education either directly or indirectly to ensure that our schools remain safe and effective in terms of teaching and learning," he said.

- NZPA