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TRACEY WHYTE IS a teacher in a Dublin school for children with severe emotional and behavioural difficulties.
She told the INTO congress in Ennis about how she has been physically attacked 20 times this year in her class of children aged 9 and 10.
Speaking to Sean O’Rourke on RTÉ Radio 1, she said:
I’ve been spat at on the face regularly, punched in the stomach, one child came at me with a fire extinguisher down a corridor running, just by luck I got through the door on time.
“It’s physical assault. We try and keep ourselves safe but it’s not that they’re just assaulting us, they could be going for another child.
“The assaults are high at the start of the year and gradually it gets better as you teach them the skills to deal with their emotional difficulties.”
Assault leave
Whyte said it’s not fair that teachers have to use up their sick leave when they need time off after being attacked. She told O’Rourke that ‘even the emotional turmoil of an assault can be draining’.
At the moment you have seven days in two years uncertified sick leave and I can’t afford to take a day off.
She wants to see ‘assault leave’ exempt from normal sick leave. She says being sick and being assaulted in the workplace are not the same thing.
She also explained how these assaults are not confined to special needs schools.
One teacher at the INTO conference this week told Whyte how she was nearly stabbed with a pair of scissors.
It seems to be acceptable. We expect it. We should not accept it.
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It is a bit of a joke that they have to use up their sick leave if attacked/harmed by a pupil. Sounds like a tough enough job as it is, doubt many would be able for it.
I’d doubt many would want the job !
Yes. Sick leave is for planned pregnancy. I forgot.
Don’t forget the hours pay to cash their cheques
And that makes it okay to be assaulted? Clowns.
The “hours pay” has been abolished for the past five years my ill informed friend.
Really? Without a strike or anything?
Yes apparently it is , this is what you get with the low moral fibre of the fg and lab ponces that infest the journal.
You believe they should have an hours pay to cash their cheques I take it?
Of course they shouldn’t, Fian. We need to save the money so we can make sure you get your dole.
With all due respect to those who work with special needs children,and believe me I do respect them, could the same not be said of hospital staff who are exposed to all sorts of pathogens on a daily basis? If an average nurse or even a hospital cleaner is exposed to such things as MRSA or C Diff and catches this they have to take the same sick leave. I know if hospital employees catch any sort of vomiting or diarrhea they cannot return to work until 48 hours after their sympthoms have abated, again using their own sick leave, this doesn’t even take into account what they bring home to their families, which will happen despite the best precautions.
I know some A&E staff are also assaulted, one nurse I spoke to described having to treat a patient who had become fixated on her, this patient was violent and had been caught armed with several knives. He was escorted by armed gardai. The hospital she works in refused to supply nursing staff with personal alarms as it may give a wrong impression. Draw your own conclusions.
Nurses have a separate leave arrangement for assault leave it doesn’t affect their general sick leave and is far more generous as do all he’s staff. Quite right too teachers just want the same. I have seen teachers have broken arms,fingers, wrists etc . I have seen black eyes, human bites, hair pulled out of their scalp and vertebrae broken jaws and ribs. Not the children’s fault who have special needs but teachers should expect that they can take leave if injured in the course of their work. Most have to go back into the class with the injury until school is over go to the doctor then at their own expense and take sick leave.
Rusty balls, this article is about a teacher. I know a guy that works as a soldier in Syria, he gets shot at regularly. Focus please.
@ eamonn young, thank you well siad this fiannaoicht troll is truly a muppet and i am sure gave plenty of guff at school! they really never change!
If u must know this was given to public service workers such as people working in revenue, not to teachers so get your facts straight or keep them to urself!
Technology… Wah…. New invention called Paypath…
Such a role reversal since I was at school!
Well would you look at the usual keyboard warriors! I wonder sometimes if any of you actually work as most of you spend your days on the Journal. You wouldn’t last 5 minutes in a classroom with those kids. Then again that would mean you’d have to spend years in college and get off your asses in the first place. Idiots!
“Those who can do, those who can’t teach”
Those who can “do” English, Irish, maths, geography, history, science, music, art, drama, SPHE, RE and PE as well as manage 30 children and actually educate them, “do”. Those who “can’t”, go on the journal and make comments which they hope will illicit replies which will ease the boredom of their daily lives.
I hope the irony of your latter point isn’t lost on you.
And of course they all so an equally brilliant job and should all be treated the same…so the unions tell us which is good enough for me.
I think a touché is in order , well said .
Fiannaoicht + stupid comments = troll
So stop feeding him and he’ll go away.
It is very sad to read so many negative and so many other stupid comments on this article.it is not funny to work in this environment in both primary and secondary schools. If someone is injured in the line of duty this should be treated fairly. People in all walks of life do get sick too and may have to take time off. Teaching, nursing, police, firemen , ambulance personell, prison officers is a very tough profession and they do need to be treated with fair play.
Cattle prod needed.
I think these teachers need any and every support available. She could be preventing the future expence of a prison cell for one of these disturbed kids on the back of a serious crime which any one of us could be a victim of.
The kids in question are special needs kids. Working with intellectual disabled adults myself i can appreciate the challenging behaviour described. Ur answer is a cattleprod….u moron
Cattle prod comment was made in jest.
I did not get that these are disabled or special needs children from the article but more from a background of mistreatment.
Cool your jets with the moron comment you ASS. There are many people that work with special needs children including myself.
The subject is the teachers and carers here. Jog on.
All that teachers want is that when injured in the line of work the time taken is not out of their sick leave. This is the case for others like nurses etc. my daughter who works with children with special needs has had her wrist broken two fingers dislocated and as a result lost the use of her finger permanently. She loves the children she teaches and the job she just wants the same protection as anyone else in a dangerous occupation. One teacher has had to have back surgery and is now on half pay. Never mind there is no compensation or medical expenses cover you can actually end up out of pocket through no fault of your own
What do you mean ” taken out of their sick leave”. Most of us have none to take, we just go sick if and when we need to. This sounds like teachers looking to add their sick leave to their annual leave. ( as if they don’t have enough anyway). If a teacher can’t control 10 year olds maybe she shouldn’t be a teacher.
If you dont like your job leave and retrain. Its what the rest of us have to do. SIck of listening to teachers moan.
“school for children with severe emotional and behavioral difficulties”
and your solution is?
This teacher is not moaning about her job. She wants to teach but wants the department to recognise that assault leave is needed for teachers who teach in such volatile environments.
She doesn’t seem satisfied with all the paid time off they already enjoy.
Mr. Fakeman,
That’s BS. She never she said she didn’t like her job. Are people not allowed to ask for ways to improve their working environments?
teaching kids with emotional and behavioural problems is not a walk in the park, so fair play to her.
Top prat strikes again on yet another article it knows nothing about
It’s not “paid time off”, Topcat… Their pay is just divided over 26 fortnights. If your issue is that they get good holidays, I suggest you retrain and try her job for a while. See if you need a few weeks off.
Niall they enjoy half the bloody year off as it is while being paid, how much more should they get?
@Top Cat, how about the resources and support needed
Well maybe if we stopped paying for junkets to Ennis we could pay for better resources Denis.
Laughable, you reckon the INTO cut resources for special needs?
I can’t believe I am saying this but Top Cat is correct. Do teacher’s not already get 2 weeks of at Christmas and easter and 3 month’s of paid every summer?
Ask someone to throw a fire extinguisher at your head and see how you feel after it .
Give me 5 months paid leave annually and I promise I won’t even try to avoid the fire extinguisher.
I probably call the Gardai if someone threw a fire extinguisher at me.
You could call them after you had time off to recover from your head being caved in .
So Top Cat, you reckon we should have the Gardai using their limited resources to visit special needs schools every day? Not exactly the smartest idea you’ve had, is it.
Yes Eamonn of someone saw fit to throw a fire extinguisher at my head then that person is in no mental state to be in a classroom with other children, they’re a danger not only to themselves but others in the class. A fire extinguisher to the head could kill so yes I would alert authorities.
Then you really have no idea what you’re talking about and should probably stay silent. Clearly what is happening here is you saw some teacher complaining and thought “typical moaning teachers” and that you had an excuse to bash teachers. Emotionally disturbed kids are plentiful in our school system and violence from them is very common. It is totally unrealistic to expect the Gardaí to be called every time an emotionally disturbed child attacked his teacher. So try and rescue some dignity from this situation, admit (just to yourself is fine) you reacted without thinking and that you have no idea what you’re talking about and back away from the thread. Whilst you are away, you might ask yourself what makes you so bitter towards teachers.
So you think it’s perfectly fine for a child capable of throwing a fire extinguisher at someone’s head to remain in the class? They are a clear threat to themselves their teacher and others in the class. It would be downright irresponsible of any school not to report an incident like that and I for one as a parent would not want my child in the same classroom as another child capable of that. But hey Eamonn has spoken, I know nothing and he is the oracle.
Any of them working during those holidays?
No, Top Cat, I’m just someone who knows what he’s talking about. You just lost what little dignity you had with your laughably ridiculous comment that me not expecting the Gardaí to go to special needs schools every day means I think it’s fine for a child to throw a fire extinguisher at someone. That is just beyond stupid. I’m actually embarrassed for you.
Maybe the kids don’t like her.
You said you wouldn’t report an incident like that. For the publics sake I hope you don’t work in a school or any position of responsibility for that matter.
Yeah, not reporting every incident to the Gardaí doesn’t mean I think violence is fine. Think before posting in future.
Who said anything about reporting every single incident to the Gardai? All I said was if someone threw a fire extinguisher at me then yes I would have to alert authorites because schools have a duty of care to all children and staff, you’re the one who jumped to the conclusion that that meant I wanted Gardai “using their limited resources to visit special needs schools everyday”.
LOL! Right, so just the Gardaí should only respond to violent incidents if there’s a fire extinguisher involved. Jayzus, lad. Put down the shovel.
June July August Easter Christmas and 2 mid terms should adequately compensate for the inconveniences of teaching. They’re lucky to have sick leave. Many in the private sector don’t.
What? You’re just putting words in my mouth now to fit your little rant. Yes I said if a fire extinguisher was thrown at someone in a school then the Gardai should be alerted, if it’s serious enough for a teacher to want “assault leave” than it’s serious enough to report to the authorities.
Er, when it’s a child of 9 or 10, who’s already attending a school specifically for kids with emotional and behavioural problems – what exactly are the gardai going to be able to do?
They’re children for goodness sake, they need to learn – what do you propose happen to them?
There are certain jobs where getting assaulted occasionally is an occupational risk. Obviously this teachers place of work is one of them. In that sense yes – she should be entitled to leave if she has been assaulted.
@Shanti, It’s pointless. TC did’nt read the article, along with others, they just seen an article about teachers in general and went a’bashin’. Much like the governments commitment to anything to do with care.
Yes, she should ask the special needs children to assault her only prior to this leave! Now there’s a solution!
Top Cat, make sure Finbarr and Linda come on to back you up. Pull your socks up!
I blame the parents.
Must be nice to get a paid week off to attend a private party in Ennis.
You should try and join the representative body of your job. Most have exercises like this.
Will my boss pay me to attend?
Perhaps, ask him.
I’m self employed so I’ll have to wait till he’s in a good humour.
Oh right. You’re probably gonna have to wait a while so!
He’s usually drunk on a Friday so I’ll try then
Want 4-5 months holidays a year? Become a teacher
Don’t want to become a teacher? Piss & moan about them getting 4-5 months holidays a year
Irish people, home of the begrudger
Assault leave…for f*** sake. If you’re sick you’re sick. If you’ve been assaulted, call the police.
Brilliant, your solution to 9-10 year olds with emotional/behavioral problems is to incarcerate them
Where did I say incarcerate them? Yes call in the police with their parents. Someone being assaulted by a child of whatever age is totally unacceptable. If their mental state is such that they can’t comprehend this then they shouldn’t be in a normal school.
Ah ffs Reg, did ye even read the article
Ah FFS they arent in a normal school. I dont know how anyone could do it, it must be hugely stressful with protecting the other kids and yourself and also kids that want to harm themselves. There are similar schools for older kids 14-16 which would even be scary. I think a few days leave after an assault would be understandable although alot of the teacher who do this would probably not use the days as they care alot for the children and really do want to help them….
Reg. Do yourself a favour and read the article before making nonsense comments. It states in the 2nd and 3rd line that they are in special school ffs!
Compo. Give the girl compo.
That’d fix it.
It’s all used up on dublin bus claims and rear enders in finglas.
Teachers moaning. What’s new?
I would know Tracy a bit being from same town. She is a happy go lucky girl. I do just hope that this will not have any effect on the work that she is doing. A foot needs to be put down with grounds in place to stop attack on people doing their jobs. One thing I hope that wide media coverage will not lead to more abuse to her. chin up Tracy and keep her lit…..
Easter break and the annual teachers whinge …….
Annual ? Monthly more like !
They really could just press play on last years self righteous gathering and save everyone the hassle of traipsing around the country
She might just be a bad teacher with no control of her class. Thousands of teachers get through their life’s without experiencing any off these issues. How is it that it happens her regularly ??
First paragraph:
“TRACEY WHITE IS a teacher in a Dublin school for children with severe emotional and behavioral difficulties.”
@Chris
I think some of the commenters here have serious reading difficulties, don’t waste your time on those.
The fact is, I wouldn’t want to be in Ms White’s shoes and teaching kids with these severe issues, thie woman should get all the support she needs
@Larissa,
Yep, I’ve noticed on a few occasions that some people seem to comment only based on the headline.
Did you not read the article?…she works in a school for emotionally disturbed children….unlike thousands of regular mainstream teachers who would mever meey childten with ebds. Maybe you should educate yourself a bit on what that means.Teachers in that type of specialised environment get attacked regularly…….
When I was young, the teacher had a stick…
“It’s not fair that teachers have to use up their sick leave…” You just know you’re dealing with a public servant when you hear that.
You forgot the rest of that sentence you quoted:
“…when they need time off after being attacked.”
What do you expect them to use their sick days for, going shopping or having a three day weekend maybe? No point having mandatory sick days regardless of whether you’re actually or not if you can’t do with them as you please.
Well sorry to hear that I have been working with emotional challenged children quite a while and of course it is challenging. But difference is I did that 38.5 hours a week/holidays were 30 days a year. And SURELY NOT for the teachers pay! So hmmm poor teachers they got HOW MANY DAYS OFF anyway??? And sorry I understand after a while it gets to you then you got to look for another job, I DID! But please no more pity for poor teachers who need to use their poor sick days…. jesus! Get real I mean… I wonder often how much children learn anyway with SO many days off, its absolutely ridicolous!! I don’t mind how many thumbs down I get or being insulted now but the Truth has to be sad and stated! Thanks!
Oooohhh what I wouldn’t give to be spat at in the face…….
I can’t see why such incidents at a school for children with severe emotional and behavioural difficulties is shocking.
It’s akin to a fisherman complaining about getting wet.
Alan aggressive behaviour and outbursts may be expected by teaching staff but that doesn’t mean they should not be treated appropriately and fairly when it happens.
These teachers deserve a serious pat on the back. There is not many who would do such a difficult job and without them these children would receive no education and their behaviour and emotional state of mind would be even worse!
Very few teachers would sign up to do this kind of work. Could you imagine Enda doing it, qualified professional and all that.
Anyone who allows 9/10 yr olds to do that to them clearly is in the wrong job. If a child comes at you with a fire extinguisher you don’t run away you run at the little s**t.
The point most people seem to have missed is, why are these children so emotionally damaged?
I went to a school for emotionally unstable Christian Brothers and I’m still scarred……
I know three young teachers, they’re slightly above average.
But how?
But teachers already have generous sick leave. Giving them more is sorting the wrong problem. Sort out the behaviour is the obvious action needed. Why do teachers always present a claim for more entitlements? Could they instead put their efforts into solving problems? God knows they have enough time on their hands.
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