Elizabeth Martin says teacher violence is treated as part of the job
In an opinion article for The Educators Room, the special education teacher recounts a student assault and calls for staff safety to be taken seriously alongside students’ needs.
Elizabeth Martin, a special education teacher, argues that violence against educators is too often treated as an expected part of teaching rather than a workplace safety issue. In an opinion article for The Educators Room, she describes a pattern of sympathetic but resigned responses to her own assault.
Martin says a student tackled her during an escalation in an emotional support classroom when she was a new teacher and mother. She describes years of medical appointments, surgeries and recovery after the incident.
She also recounts being questioned by administrators and lawyers about whether she had done enough to prevent the assault. The student’s parents sued the school district, alleging it had failed to prevent the incident; Martin’s article does not give the lawsuit’s outcome.
Martin refers to three American Psychological Association national surveys that found high rates of verbal and physical violence against educators and other school personnel, with rates increasing after the pandemic. The article provides no survey dates, methods or specific rates.
She argues that recognising students’ trauma, disabilities and behavioural needs can go alongside insisting that educators have a right to safety at work. Her broader claim that violence has become normalised is presented as her interpretation of her experience and the responses she describes.
