School attack alarms staff - Teachers fear bully parents; mom claims son was victimfrom Jamie Komarnicki, Calgary Herald 1 The attack on a principal who was thrown to the ground and punched at a West Dover school highlights a larger issue of increasing parental harassment, says a teachers' union official. "We know those incidents are on the rise and we know it's an issue in, I dare say, every school in the system at one point or another. And it must be addressed," Calgary public teachers' union president Jenny Regal said Friday. On Thursday, the principal of West Dover Elementary School was assaulted following a verbal argument with a parent, police said. The attack sent ripples of fear through Calgary's teaching community, said Regal. While physical violence is rare, the growing threat of parental bullying and harassment demands official attention, Regal said. "It happens far more frequently than we like to imagine," she said. Teachers are regularly yelled at and sworn at by parents, said Regal. However, the wife of the man charged with attacking the school principal says their son was the victim of bullying for weeks from other students at his elementary school. Sabina Piche also said Thursday's incident came after repeated discussions with the school about the care of their son, who has been struggling to recover from a gruesome accident in August that resulted in his foot being amputated. Regal said the incident adds to a growing sense of fear, which dampens morale in the workplace and hampers teachers' ability to educate students. "I imagine that there are teachers system-wide wondering, what is the world coming to when we have to begin fearing potentially physical assaults from parents," said Regal. While rare, the violent incident is sure to affect staff for a long time, said a University of Calgary education professor. "They'll feel this for a while. It's not something that staff take lightly," said Jim Field. Schools are highly charged environments where the dynamic between parents and teachers over students' academics can easily escalate to a power struggle, said Field. In worst case scenarios, violence erupts, he said. Piche said her developmentally delayed son, Joshua, 9, is recovering from a recent leg amputation that leaves him prone to emotional outbursts, and an easy target for bullies, she said. On Thursday, he was pulled from class following a disturbance and confined in a bathroom where he awaited his parents, she said. "When I got to the school with my husband, we saw the bathroom door closed," said Piche. "We walked into the bathroom, my son saw me and my husband, he burst into tears and started crying," she said. "He was frightened." Piche said the situation got out of control after that as her husband stormed out. The situation then escalated, she said. The incident followed weeks of clashing with school officials over her son's care. "(Joshua) is emotionally distressed, he's hurt. This child has gone through so much crisis in his life," said Piche, noting her son lost his foot and part of his leg to a freight train accident in August. "It's been challenging. He tries to be strong, and yet he's bullied." Her son has been suspended from school and will not likely return to Dover Elementary, she said. On Friday, a Calgary Board of Education security guard was stationed inside the school, where he'll stay as long as staff feel it's necessary, said spokesman Ted Flitton said. The school's principal, who was bruised in the forehead and cheeks in the attack but declined EMS transport to hospital, visited all the classrooms Friday to let students know she was OK, he said. Crisis counsellors were on hand to help students affected by the incident, he said. "We want to make sure the students know about what happened and feel free to talk about it and ask questions," said Flitton. School officials will review the incident to ensure safety procedures were properly followed, Flitton said. "It's absolutely disconcerting. We want to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again." Robert Piche, 40, is to appear in court on charges of assault on Jan. 25. |
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