Teachers At-Risk for Assault, Workplace Violence

Workplace violence continues to be a concern for many communities, creating complications involving public health and safety. For many communities, the management of workplace violence often comes in the form of increased security in the workplace with educational programs for employees and, in some cases, families.

If you are employed as a teacher, however, the violence in your workplace may be unique. While many students commit acts of violence against each other, there are some teachers who are at risk for violence related injury as well. Assault in the educational setting often does not result in a fatal outcome for student or teacher but, yet, the risks associated with assault to teachers can be quite astounding. Even threats of violence can significantly affect the welfare of teachers and, ultimately, this impacts the quality of education for everyone.

While fatal outcomes to assault against teachers is not common, statistics have shown that school districts report the highest rate of non-fatal workers' compensation claims and experience one of the highest levels of costs. When compared to banking, finance and security companies, school districts suffer a significant complication in managing the costs of health care for teachers who have suffered occupational injury. Unfortunately, many of these occupational injuries are linked directly to assault by a student and, ultimately, could have been avoided.

Assault against teachers may not always occur in a direct response to an altercation with that teacher. Often, teachers experience assault and assault-related injuries when attempting to defend or intercede in an altercation between two students or a student and another teacher. In an effort to deter these types of incidences in the school environment, the school districts are placing fences around the campuses, using metal detectors, security guards and have even installed security cameras. Even with these best efforts to deter school violence, the assaults against teachers continue to occur.