Yukon Teachers' Association says classroom violence is top concern

Violence in the classrooms is the biggest issue facing Yukon's teachers, says the president-elect of the Yukon Teachers' Association.

Jill Mason says spitting, kicking, scratching and punching by students iscommonplace in the territory'sschools, and she believes the problems are getting worse.

Last week, a Grade 3 teacher was injured when astudent threw a chair, hitting the teacher in the face, CBC News has learned.

"It is not OK that people leave their jobs with wounds," Mason says.

"It is not OK if you walk away with scratches. It is not OK if you walk away with bruises.That's something that maybe soldiers deal with, or RCMP deal with it. It should not be something that teachers have to deal with."

Protocol on violence

Yukon's Department of Education has been working on a Violence Threat Risk Assessment Protocol. Mason says teachers have been trained in that type of assessment, and she calls it a 'step forward' but saysit'sdesigned to deal serious threats rather thanday-to-day issues.

Mason says some teachers have been trained on how to safely restrain students but addsteachers are not police officers.

"I'm not sure that, to the degree that we're doing it now, is the direction that we should be going," Mason says.

She's also urging the government to take the issue seriously, saying school violence affects more than just the teachers and students who are in class at the time.

"It affects anybody who's in the hallway, it affects parents if they're visiting the school, and it affects all of the other staff, who are colleagues of these people who are dealing with this. So it is a big issue."

President's priorities

Mason says tackling classroom violence will be her top priority when she takes over as the president of the teacher's union.

Mason was elected last week, winning overGary Morgan for the top job. In July, she will replaceoutgoing union president KatherineMackwood.

Mason says, in addition to the issue of violence, shealso wants to focus on the quantityand quality of housing in rural communities for teachers.

Members of the Yukon Teachers' Association will meet in Whitehorse this weekendfor their annual convention.