Sixth Graders Describe their Experience of Verbal/Emotional Abuse by Teachers in the Classroom

• In Event: Roundtable: Schools, Education and Crime

Abstract

Aim: To characterize the experiences of verbal/emotional abuse of sixth graders by teachers in elementary classrooms.
Methods: Group interviews with four students in each group (N=160) and subsequent individual interviews with a purposeful sample of sixty students who were the target or witness of such abuse.
Results: Content analysis showed students reported yelling, name-calling and put-downs by teachers whenever they failed to pay attention, complete their work, or obtain good grades. These behaviors were condemned as humiliating, but, Because of initial respect for teachers and fear of reprisal, students kept silent rather than confront or report the abuse. Students reported covert opposition through a silent monologue, telling teachers they had no right to mistreat them, silent cursing, or withdrawing participation. Continuous belittling and public humiliation led students to lose interest in the teacher's opinion and school and to truancy. Sometimes stigmatization led to direct confrontation, and rarely, to student acting out toward teachers.
Conclusion: This study draws awareness to the reality of emotional maltreatment by teachers in the classroom and recommends promoting a school culture that takes the perspective of children while providing a framework in which they feel safe to report the abuse.

Authors

• Brenda Geiger, Bar Ilan University

• Michael L. Fischer, Norfolk State University