On Wednesday, I had a conversation with a teacher I respected over the years.
Classrooms are becoming more violent, he said, and that is a big part of why more teachers and other educators are sick.
He said he wanted to share his experience, though he would be out of work if his employer knew he was talking.
Across the province, school board employees now have 29 percentage points more sick leave than they did five years ago.
In the past year alone, it has risen by 9. 5 per cent.
As I wrote earlier this week, some of them were about "using-it-or-lose-
"This mentality is prevalent in some places because teachers are no longer able to deposit sick leave in the bank to pay cash after retirement.
Some teachers called for sick leave just to pass those days.
But this is not the case for most responsible people, he said.
On the contrary, many absences can be explained by stress --
Due to the increasing violence in the classroom, related diseases are caused.
Students, especially young students, show behavioral problems.
The kindergarten is now a minefield, the teacher said.
If a child hits another child for fear of being accused of attacking, the teacher cannot touch the offender.
Instead, the teacher must try to reason with him or her.
This is an untenable position for teachers, he said.
There is not enough support to help the process.
Kindergarten is particularly stressful because those children have not yet been assessed.
If they act positively, no one knows exactly what the problem is.
The teacher said the situation was particularly difficult for educational assistants because they were responsible for the biggest increase in sick leave.
Over the past five years, the frequency of sick leave has increased from an average of 11 to 41.
2011 37 days a year
12 to 16 days 201516.
They are now used to make sure the classroom is safe, not to help children in need of extra help.
Some of the assistants came to the school wearing protective gear such as body pads and masks.
The teacher is not alone.
Others have reported cutting across the province, which some believe is an epidemic.
Students with special needs sometimes "melt" and kick or punch in school staff.
Earlier this week, in a forum on better schools, teacher Michael bastham said a troubled student once threw a huge stone at him.
He used the stone as a spiritual reminder.
Health challenges.
These are powerful anecdotes, but they will not change anything in themselves.
If the school board and the province take seriously the issue of reducing sick leave, they need to get data to support these stories.
At the Waterloo Regional School Board, the data is confidential, but the organization of the data is that if the data is widely shared, it will violate the secrecy regulations.
Principal Ann Hawkins said at the Ontario Association of English Catholic Teachers that in order to "understand the scope of the problem", a survey of teachers has begun.
"We would all rather spend public money to support teachers and vulnerable children than pay for sick leave.
Research is the first step towards this goal.
Ldamato @ therecord.
Twitter: @ DamatoRecordI spoke to a teacher that I have respected for many years on Wednesday.
Classrooms are becoming more violent, he said, and that is a big part of why more teachers and other educators are sick.
He said he wanted to share his experience, though he would be out of work if his employer knew he was talking.
Across the province, school board employees now have 29 percentage points more sick leave than they did five years ago.
In the past year alone, it has risen by 9. 5 per cent.
As I wrote earlier this week, some of them were about "using-it-or-lose-
"This mentality is prevalent in some places because teachers are no longer able to deposit sick leave in the bank to pay cash after retirement.
Some teachers called for sick leave just to pass those days.
But this is not the case for most responsible people, he said.
On the contrary, many absences can be explained by stress --
Due to the increasing violence in the classroom, related diseases are caused.
Students, especially young students, show behavioral problems.
The kindergarten is now a minefield, the teacher said.
If a child hits another child for fear of being accused of attacking, the teacher cannot touch the offender.
Instead, the teacher must try to reason with him or her.
This is an untenable position for teachers, he said.
There is not enough support to help the process.
Kindergarten is particularly stressful because those children have not yet been assessed.
If they act positively, no one knows exactly what the problem is.
The teacher said the situation was particularly difficult for educational assistants because they were responsible for the biggest increase in sick leave.
Over the past five years, the frequency of sick leave has increased from an average of 11 to 41.
2011 37 days a year
12 to 16 days 201516.
They are now used to make sure the classroom is safe, not to help children in need of extra help.
Some of the assistants came to the school wearing protective gear such as body pads and masks.
The teacher is not alone.
Others have reported cutting across the province, which some believe is an epidemic.
Students with special needs sometimes "melt" and kick or punch in school staff.
Earlier this week, in a forum on better schools, teacher Michael bastham said a troubled student once threw a huge stone at him.
He used the stone as a spiritual reminder.
Health challenges.
These are powerful anecdotes, but they will not change anything in themselves.
If the school board and the province take seriously the issue of reducing sick leave, they need to get data to support these stories.
At the Waterloo Regional School Board, the data is confidential, but the organization of the data is that if the data is widely shared, it will violate the secrecy regulations.
Principal Ann Hawkins said at the Ontario Association of English Catholic Teachers that in order to "understand the scope of the problem", a survey of teachers has begun.
"We would all rather spend public money to support teachers and vulnerable children than pay for sick leave.
Research is the first step towards this goal.
Ldamato @ therecord.
Twitter: @ DamatoRecordI spoke to a teacher that I have respected for many years on Wednesday.
Classrooms are becoming more violent, he said, and that is a big part of why more teachers and other educators are sick.
He said he wanted to share his experience, though he would be out of work if his employer knew he was talking.
Across the province, school board employees now have 29 percentage points more sick leave than they did five years ago.
In the past year alone, it has risen by 9. 5 per cent.
As I wrote earlier this week, some of them were about "using-it-or-lose-
"This mentality is prevalent in some places because teachers are no longer able to deposit sick leave in the bank to pay cash after retirement.
Some teachers called for sick leave just to pass those days.
But this is not the case for most responsible people, he said.
On the contrary, many absences can be explained by stress --
Due to the increasing violence in the classroom, related diseases are caused.
Students, especially young students, show behavioral problems.
The kindergarten is now a minefield, the teacher said.
If a child hits another child for fear of being accused of attacking, the teacher cannot touch the offender.
Instead, the teacher must try to reason with him or her.
This is an untenable position for teachers, he said.
There is not enough support to help the process.
Kindergarten is particularly stressful because those children have not yet been assessed.
If they act positively, no one knows exactly what the problem is.
The teacher said the situation was particularly difficult for educational assistants because they were responsible for the biggest increase in sick leave.
Over the past five years, the frequency of sick leave has increased from an average of 11 to 41.
2011 37 days a year
12 to 16 days 201516.
They are now used to make sure the classroom is safe, not to help children in need of extra help.
Some of the assistants came to the school wearing protective gear such as body pads and masks.
The teacher is not alone.
Others have reported cutting across the province, which some believe is an epidemic.
Students with special needs sometimes "melt" and kick or punch in school staff.
Earlier this week, in a forum on better schools, teacher Michael bastham said a troubled student once threw a huge stone at him.
He used the stone as a spiritual reminder.
Health challenges.
These are powerful anecdotes, but they will not change anything in themselves.
If the school board and the province take seriously the issue of reducing sick leave, they need to get data to support these stories.
At the Waterloo Regional School Board, the data is confidential, but the organization of the data is that if the data is widely shared, it will violate the secrecy regulations.
Principal Ann Hawkins said at the Ontario Association of English Catholic Teachers that in order to "understand the scope of the problem", a survey of teachers has begun.
"We would all rather spend public money to support teachers and vulnerable children than pay for sick leave.
Research is the first step towards this goal.
Ldamato @ therecord.