March 2026 - Minaz Jivraj My Take: Has School Violence Become Normalized? Examining Safety, Reporting, and Educator Experiences in Ontario and Canada
- Mar 6
- 7 min read
This article examines the prevalence, reporting, and perceptions of school violence in Ontario and across Canada, with particular focus on whether such violence has become normalized as “part of the job” for teachers and administrators. Drawing on academic research, union surveys, government reporting systems, and national advocacy reports, this paper evaluates the frequency and types of violence against educators, barriers to reporting, institutional responses, and perceptions among school staff and communities. The analysis assesses: (1) whether teachers and educational staff informally adapt to violence rather than escalate safety concerns, (2) whether incident reporting accurately reflects real exposure, and (3) whether school boards and administrative leadership assume that existing policies provide sufficient protection. The evidence suggests that while school violence is widely recognized and reported by educators as a systemic issue, it is often underreported, inconsistently addressed, and, at times, perceived by staff as an inevitable aspect of educational work.
1. Introduction
School violence is a multifaceted challenge encompassing physical assaults, threats, harassment, and disruptive behaviours that negatively affect learning environments, staff well-being, and student outcomes. In Ontario and across Canada, teachers and education workers have increasingly reported incidents of violence and aggression, prompting questions about the adequacy of safety policies, reporting practices, and institutional responses. Central to this inquiry is whether school violence has become normalized; accepted as an unavoidable part of the teaching profession, or whether current frameworks fail to capture its true prevalence and impacts.
This article investigates four key issues:
Whether teaching staff informally adapt to violence rather than escalate safety concerns.
Whether reporting systems underrepresent actual exposure to violence.
Whether school boards and administrative leadership assume existing policies are protective while staff remain uncertain about safety.
Whether available evidence supports or challenges the claim that violence has become normalized as part of the job for educators.
2. School Violence in Ontario: Prevalence and Perceptions
2.1 Union Surveys and Educator Experiences
In Ontario, multiple surveys conducted by teachers’ unions provide quantitative insights into educators’ exposure to violence. In a 2023 survey of members of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), 77% reported personally experiencing violence or witnessing violence against another staff member, and four in five participants indicated that violent incidents had increased since they began their careers. Over two-thirds also reported increases in the severity of incidents, and more than 80% agreed that violence interferes with teaching and classroom management. Administrators were noted to be aware of violence but not always acting on reports (ETFO, 2023).
Similarly, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FEESO) reported that 75% of their members observed more incidents of violence over the course of their careers, and 31% had personally experienced physical force used against them during the 2022–2023 school year. The risk was noted to be especially high for educational support staff such as educational assistants, with 75% experiencing physical force (OSSTF/FEESO, 2024).
The prevalence data from these surveys suggests that violent incidents are neither rare nor isolated but part of a continuum of risk experienced by Ontario educators. These figures also support claims that school violence interferes with teaching practice and wellbeing.
2.2 Distressing Levels and Normalization
A recent report from the University of Ottawa’s Violence & Harassment Against Educators Project highlights that many workers report violence as an everyday reality and that austerity measures and underfunding compound this trend. The report states that workplace violence in Ontario schools remains a “best-kept secret,” and educators describe conditions where violence is increasingly viewed as part of the job. The report emphasizes that support for special needs students and adequate staffing are central to addressing the problem (University of Ottawa, 2025).
3. National Context: Canada-Wide Trends
3.1 Canadian Teachers’ Federation Findings
The Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE) has framed school violence as a national concern. According to its Stop Violence in Schools initiative, 86% of Canadians are concerned about rising levels of violence in public schools, and teachers across the country report increasing incidents of aggression and harassment (CTF/FCE, 2024).
In its School-Based Violence across Canada analysis, the CTF/FCE highlighted that violence in classrooms has become more prevalent, with many teachers feeling on edge and struggling to create nurturing environments due to frequent aggressions from students, including hitting, kicking, biting, and spitting. It also notes that half of the worst incidents reported by teachers were not formally recorded, suggesting under-representation in official statistics (CTF/FCE, 2024).
3.2 Broader Canadian Evidence
While union and advocacy reports provide substantial practitioner perspectives, academic research, such as studies on bullying and aggression, adds context to how violence manifests in student-teacher dynamics. Although not specific to Ontario, broader research on school bullying demonstrates the psychological and behavioural impacts of aggressive interactions in school settings (Zhao et al., 2023).
A position paper from the Nova Scotia Teachers Union reflects similar concerns outside Ontario, noting rising incidents and insufficient systemic responses across Canada (NSTU, 2025).
4. Reporting School Violence: Systems and Limitations
4.1 Official Reporting Mechanisms
In Ontario, the Safe Schools Incident Reporting system, mandated under the Education Act and accompanying Policy/Program Memoranda (such as PPM 120 and PPM 145), requires that serious student incidents, such as physical assault, be tracked and reported to the Ministry. Principals are responsible for investigating reports and recording them via Safe Schools Incident Reporting Forms, which are then entered into the Ontario School Information System (OnSIS) for annual reporting.
4.2 Underreporting and Barriers
Despite these formal frameworks, union and research reports suggest that official statistics may significantly undercount actual incidents. The CTF/FCE analysis cites many teachers who did not report their most serious workplace violence experiences, because they perceived the violence as insufficiently severe, believed reporting would make no difference, or lacked support from administration (CTF/FCE, 2024).
Union surveys reinforce this pattern: ETFO members reported that administrators are aware of violence but do not always act, implying that some incidents may be informally minimized or resolved without full reporting.
These findings align with broader critiques in educational research indicating that institutional reporting systems frequently underrepresent workplace health and safety risks—due to procedural barriers, lack of training, and cultural norms discouraging reporting. While precise academic data on underreporting in Canadian schools is limited, the patterns observed resonate with international research on reporting gaps in school violence and child welfare cases.
5. Administrative Leadership and School Board Responses
5.1 Policy Assumptions vs. Practitioners’ Experience
School boards and administrators often rely on established policies and reporting frameworks as evidence that school environments are safe and that incidents are being tracked appropriately. However, educator surveys suggest that policies alone do not guarantee safety. Many teachers report that support personnel (e.g., educational assistants, social workers) are not consistently available when needed, exacerbating workplace stress and limiting the efficacy of interventions (ETFO, 2023).
In addition, OSSTF/FEESO’s advocacy campaign calls for emergency safe school funding and transparent incident data, implicating administrative and governmental leadership in not fully acknowledging or addressing the depth of the safety challenges.
5.2 Leadership Uncertainty and Staff Well-Being
The disconnect between policy and practice is evident in educators’ perceptions. Surveys and union reports demonstrate that staff often feel unsupported or uncertain about how leadership will respond to violent incidents, contributing to a culture of informal adaptation rather than escalation. Educators may modify their instruction, avoid reporting minor aggressions, or withdraw from conflict situations as coping strategies, which can inadvertently reinforce normalization.
6. Parents and School Community Perspectives
While educator and union data dominate the discussion, parental concerns also highlight community apprehension about safety. Advocacy campaigns often frame school violence as a shared responsibility impacting students’ learning and wellbeing. For example, national polling indicates that most Canadians are concerned about rising violence in schools and support stronger protections for teachers and students (CTF/FCE, 2024).
Anecdotal accounts from parents in Ontario further illustrate unease about communication gaps when violence occurs, with some reporting that schools refrain from sharing information about classroom incidents due to confidentiality constraints or uncertainty about what can be disclosed (Reddit threads; individual accounts). However, such testimonials, while not formal research, echo broader concerns about transparency and community confidence.
7. Discussion: Normalization vs. Systemic Challenge
The evidence suggests that school violence has not become fully normalized in the sense of universal acceptance without concern, but there is a troubling trend where incidents are frequent, sometimes expected, and managed informally rather than systematically addressed. Union surveys consistently show that a majority of educators experience or witness violence, believe incidents have increased over time, and describe adverse impacts on teaching and workplace safety.
At the same time, reporting systems and administrative responses appear to lag behind frontline experiences. Discrepancies between official reporting frameworks and educators’ accounts indicate that underreporting is a significant issue, likely due to procedural barriers and cultural discouragement around formal reporting. The result may be an underestimation of the frequency and severity of school violence in official data.
Rather than suggesting that educators have fully internalized violence as an unquestioned norm, this pattern reflects a pragmatic adaptation to workplace conditions in which escalation of safety concerns may seem fruitless or unsupported. In many workplaces, employees develop informal coping mechanisms when formal channels are perceived as ineffective; in schools this can mean teachers managing minor aggressions independently and reporting only the most serious incidents.
8. Conclusion and Recommendations
8.1 Summary
Ontario and Canadian evidence demonstrates that:
School violence is prevalent and increasing according to educators.
Reporting systems do not fully capture actual incidents due to barriers and informal handling.
Educators often feel unsupported or uncertain about administrative responses.
Union and national data indicate that violence is a systemic workplace issue, not an isolated problem.
8.2 Recommendations
To address the complex issue of school violence, the following actions are recommended:
Enhance reporting systems: Simplify and support incident reporting to reduce underrepresentation.
Increase frontline support staff: Ensure educational assistants, counsellors, and behavioural specialists are available to mitigate crisis situations.
Professional development: Provide training on de-escalation, trauma-informed practices, and safety protocols.
Policy alignment: Regularly review safety policies with educator input to ensure relevance and effectiveness.
Community engagement: Increase transparency and communication between schools, parents, and community stakeholders to build trust and shared accountability.
References
Canadian Teachers’ Federation. (2024). Stop violence in schools.
Canadian Teachers’ Federation. (2024). School-based violence across Canada.
Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario. (2023). ETFO member survey shows violence pervasive in schools.
Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario. (2023). ETFO violence survey summary report.
Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FEESO). (2024). Startling school violence survey results.
Ontario Ministry of Education. (n.d.). Reporting serious student incidents.
University of Ottawa. (2025). Distressing levels of workplace violence in Ontario schools.
Minaz Jivraj MSc., C.P.P., C.F.E., C.F.E.I., C.C.F.I.-C., I.C.P.S., C.C.T.P.
Disclaimer:The information provided in this blog/article is for general informational purposes only and reflects the personal opinions of the author. It is not intended as legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the content, the author makes no representations or warranties about its completeness or suitability for any particular purpose. Readers are encouraged to seek professional legal advice specific to their situation.