104,500 injured, attacked,

sexually harassed, under stress causing mental illness? This is apparently the number of teachers formally reporting incidents over the past decade. That is apparently around fifty-two incidents a week...and those are the incidents which are formally reported. (A formal complaint will go to the central office.) 

How many more teachers are complaining to the school principal but not taking it any further? How many more are experiencing some of these things but not saying anything to anybody?

I really do not believe the situation was that bad in the schools for which the Senior Cat was responsible. As "the head's kids" we saw a fair bit of the staff outside school hours. In rural schools the teachers were in and out of our house, particularly at weekends. I knew how to get everything ready for morning and afternoon tea from late primary school Teachers frequently had meals with us. We even had one live with us for a short time.  

I knew some of them had problems. Some of the very young and very inexperienced teachers had a few discipline problems but they were quickly dealt with by the Senior Cat or his deputy. There was one young woman who could not handle the position at all. How she managed to do her teacher training was a mystery. The Senior Cat sent me in to her classroom with a message one day. The room was noisy, very noisy and then there was a sudden (and I mean sudden) silence. The miscreants looked at me. I looked at them. They knew what I was thinking. Was she going to tell him they were playing up? Most of them were about eight years old. I handed over the information required and asked if I could speak to two of the boys I knew would be ring leaders. Out in the tiny "porch" of the classroom - the space where the children kept their bags and coats - I spoke to them. No, I would not tell my father but if the noise began again I would and that meant nobody would get any playtime for the rest of the week. (It was Thursday.) As a prefect (it was an all age school) I had the power to suggest detention but not give it. And yes, the classroom I was in was close enough that I could suggest I could hear them. It was the perfect solution on that occasion because the two boys knew that the junior most football team would be chosen at lunch play time...and they wanted to be on the team.

It did not last as a solution of course. The following time Miss S... left. She was unable to control any group of children and went into a different profession eventually working behind the scenes so she did not need to have contact with the public.

The following year in a new school I went into the staff room one afternoon. School was over for the day and I had been asked to do something. I went in and found two teachers there...one in tears because a couple of the boys had been giving her a very hard time. The other teacher was about to send me straight out but the upset teacher said, "No, it's all right. Cat won't say anything." She was right. I would not have opened my mouth to anyone because I knew to say anything would have made it much, much harder for her. It was a rare incident.

So what is going on now? Schools have changed. Teaching methods have changed.  Discipline has also changed because of this. Our teachers were Mr/Mrs/Miss. They wore collars and ties if they were men and skirts or dresses if they were women. It is very different from the jeans and t-shirts which are now common on teachers, some of whom are known by their given names. Does this account for the increased number of incidents and injuries? It is not the entire answer of course but perhaps it may be part of it.