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Each year, thousands of Ontarians experience workplace violence and harassment. Workers in some sectors, including healthcare, retail, and education, are especially likely to be victimized. This article explores the high and rising rates of violence and harassment experienced by educators in Ontario, and identifies four interconnected factors as the cause of this phenomenon: (1) decades of public education defunding, particularly in the area of special education; (2) declining mental health amongst Canadian youth; (3) a restricted statutory right for educators to refuse unsafe work; and (4) widespread underreporting of violent incidents as a result of complex reporting procedures, lack of support from school administrators, and socio-emotional factors. The article goes on to consider union and government responses to the crisis of violence against and the harassment of educators, and concludes by recommending legislative, policy, and programming solutions, together with the principles that must guide their implementation.
Chaque annee, des milliers d'Ontariennes et d'Ontariens sont victimes de violence et de harcelement au travail. Les travailleurs de certains secteurs, y compris soins de sante, du commerce de detail, et education, sont particulierement susceptibles d'etres victimises. Cet article explore les taux élevés et croissants de violence contres les educateurs en Ontario, et identifie quatre facteurs interdependants comme cause: 1) des decennies de non-financement de l'education publique, en particulier pour l'education speciale; 2) baisse de la sante mentale chez les jeunes Canadiern; 3) un droit statutaire restraint pour les educateurs de refuser un travail dangereux; et 4) sous-declaration generalisee. Cet article examine ensuite les reponses des syndicats et du gouvernement a ce probleme, et recommande des solutions legislatives, politiques et de programmation, de meme que les principes qui doivent guider leur mise en oeuvre.
1.INTRODUCTION
This article addresses the issue of violence and harassment experienced by education workers - namely, teachers, early childhood educators, and educational assistants - in Ontario public schools and other education workplaces. I will argue that a combination of the long-term defunding of public education, declining youth mental health, limited legislative protections, and systemic underreporting has enabled a growing crisis of violence and harassment experienced by educators in Ontario schools.
The article first provides an overview of the law in Ontario as it relates to workplace violence and harassment and then discusses the prevalence...