Barriers to Reporting Teachers’ Abuse of Students

Abstract

Teachers in Ontario’s schools are responsible for implementing and monitoring anti-bullying programs; in fact, Ontario’s teachers are legally bound to report all bullying incidences (Ontario Safe Schools Act, 2010). However, counter to current initiatives designed to combat school- based violence, recent research has demonstrated that some teachers are the aggressors of their students, yet these behaviours are not always reported. The lack of research into teacher abuse of students may be due to a lack of reporting.