This Friday, June 14, Éric Pronovost, President of the Fédération du personnel de soutien scolaire, was in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region to present the results of a Violence Survey among school support staff conducted by Ad Hoc recherche at the request of the FPSS. The exercise shows that two out of 5 employees, or 45% of the Centre de services scolaires des Trois-Lacs was a victim of violence during the 2023-2024 school year. 

"Violence against school support staff is unacceptable, and they need to be considered and treated fairly, it affects them hard. It has to stop, we have to protect education staff. In the majority of cases, the acts of violence suffered by our members are trivialized by the management in place. Concrete solutions must be put in place to put an end to this situation once and for all. One of them could be to have more resources in place, in the field, for prevention among union members, but also among students, so that such behavior is better understood and less tolerated," explained Carol-Anne Dupré, interim president of the Syndicat du personnel de soutien des Trois-Lacs (SPSTL-CSQ). 

The survey was conducted online via e-mail invitations sent out between February 6 and March 22 to all members of the Fédération du personnel de soutien scolaire. A total of 5,127 members took part in the survey in Quebec, including 180 respondents affiliated to the CSSTL. 

Who are the members represented by the Syndicat du personnel de soutien du CSSTL? They occupy 41 job classes and work in the administrative, maintenance or other sectors. For example, they work as secretaries, office agents, maintenance workers, daycare educators, special education technicians or special education technicians for clients with reduced mobility. 

The main objectives of this study were to verify and document acts of violence experienced by non-teaching staff, and to evaluate whether incident reports are an effective means of documenting such violence.  

Non-physical violence most common 

According to the survey result, two out of five employees experienced violence in the workplace during the 2023-2024 school year. Just over a third of respondents, 35%, said they had experienced physical violence, while two in five, 41%, said they had experienced non-physical violence during the same period. 

The survey also shows that violent incidents are rarely unique and isolated, since more than two-thirds of victims (69%) have suffered at least two separate acts, one of a physical nature and the other of a non-physical nature. 

The 5 most frequently reported acts of violence were all suffered by more than a third of victims. These may therefore be violent situations combining more than one form of aggression. They included shouting (63%), having an object thrown at them (60%), blows (51%), profanity (43%) and abusive language (39%).  

Students as the primary source of violence 

Nine out of ten (87%) of abused school support staff identify students as the source or one of the sources of the incidents suffered. Colleagues (20%) and parents (13%) are the 2nd and 3rd most frequent sources of violence, almost equally so,
with around a fifth and a sixth of victims identifying them as one of the sources of the incidents.

Management is less often identified as a source of violence, with only 4% of victims reporting them.

More disturbingly, 43% of victims of violence never complete an incident report. Here are the reasons given by respondents: 

- Assessment of seriousness: 60%; 

- Procedure: 41%; 

- Unnecessary: 37%; 

- Work relationship: 20%; 

- Chance given to children: 16%; 

- Unawareness of report: 4%. 

- Other reasons: 17%.  

Multiple reasons for choosing not to file reports

Two out of five of the school support staff interviewed say they never complete incident reports following situations they have experienced. The most frequently cited reason for not completing an incident report is the need to assess the seriousness of the situation. The events don't always seem serious enough (42%), and the support staff say they are strong enough to endure the situation (18%) while avoiding filling out a report because of the procedural complexity (41%). 

Several absences due to violence

Of all those who experienced violence, 5% had to take time off work for this reason. In February 2024, 125 resignations had been recorded at the CSSTL since September 2023. Note that these do not include retirements, and are not all related to the acts of violence detailed above. 

"It's at this time of year that School Service Centres must submit their enrolments to the government for the start of the new school year. There are no plans to add resources for prevention. Recently, the Ministry of Education announced a $30 million investment for Quebec's School Service Centres as part of the Anti-Bullying Plan. It's a start, but it's not enough," concluded Ms. Dupré.