Aggression

by Zenith Wolfe

Local Journalism Initiative

As Canadian school teachers and staff continue to grapple with verbal aggression in classrooms, several Outaouais school boards are taking action with anti-violence weeks and regional committees against classroom incivility.

In 2024, the Fédération du personnel de soutien scolaire (FPSS-CSQ) surveyed over 5,000 Quebec school staff to determine how often they were abused during the 2023-2024 school year. A third of respondents reported at least one instance of physical abuse, while around 40 per cent were subject to verbal or other non-physical abuse, such as shouting, offensive comments or intimidation. Ninety per cent of staff who reported abuse that year said students are the main instigators, the survey says.

George Singfield is director-general of the Western Quebec School Board (WQSB), which oversees 31 schools, adult education centres and vocational training centres across the province. He hesitates to speak about an increase in verbal aggression at his schools, but says he’s witnessed an increase in verbal aggression from all Canadians over his 38-year education career.

“In 1985 when I started as a teacher, did I see students who were verbally aggressive? Absolutely,” he says. “Where I see the difference is that it’s become more of a thing in our society.”

“Schools are a microcosm of society,” he continues. “The message we don’t want to give is that it’s okay to be verbally aggressive.” 

According to a 2024 Brock University study that compared student behaviours from fall 2019 and 2022, school children are also becoming less civil in classrooms. Forty-two per cent of surveyed teachers said they witnessed students interrupting each other, texting during class, arriving late or packing up early. This is up from six per cent before the pandemic. 

The WQSB director general says their schools are taking proactive measures to prevent aggression, such as ongoing anti-bullying campaigns. Singfield also met with Quebec Ministry of Education representatives in mid-February to discuss their upcoming anti-violence week, taking place from March 17 to 21. Singfield could not provide specifics on the event because it’s still under discussion.

WQSB chairwoman Joanne Labadie says these kinds of events help remind parents about their schools’ strict anti-violence policies.

“I think that if you look at our data, our schools are very safe and there are very few incidents. But it’s always something we should keep on our radar to address when they come up,” Labadie says.

Employee assistance and counselling resources are also available to all WQSB staff members who are verbally abused, Singfield says.

“It’s part of their job to deal with all kinds of situations, but staff shouldn’t deal with it alone. The last thing we want to do is leave a staff member feeling isolated,” he says.

The Centre de services scolaire des Draveurs (CSSD) founded a regional committee in fall 2024 to combat uncivil classroom behaviour. Though the WQSB is not a part of this committee, Singfield says he’s informally discussed it with CSSD representatives.