Teachers shouting behaviour and its reason

When asked to the children...Why don't you want to go to school?" "'Cos teacher shouts," he said. The mother replied that she also shouted. Wonderfully, the child responded: "But Mom, you shout gently".

We have come to some level of maturity regarding the physical and sexual abuse of children, but the emotional hurting of children, which is far more frequent, intense and enduring is not an issue to which we yet give serious consideration. Nonetheless, the effects of the emotional hurting of children are now well documented and abdominal pain and aggressively acting out are some of its manifestations.

There is no intention to blame or criticise teachers. Indeed, when a teacher manifests the frequent, intense and enduring behaviour of shouting in class, that teacher needs help and support to resolve the difficulties underlying her difficult behaviour. Teachers that the doctors have helped to deal with shouting in class have expressed underlying fears of not being in control, of criticism, of inadequacy and of how others see them.

Many parents find it very threatening to approach the class teacher about the shouting in the classroom. They are afraid of the teacher becoming defensive and the possibility that their child may be victimised or ignored in class. The temptation for some parents is to do nothing, dilute what the child is saying or move the child to another school. The latter response needs to be a last resort.
When parents do not stand up for their child's right to physical, sexual, emotional, intellectual and social safety, the child will feel hugely let down. The danger is that the child will then stop telling his parent about threats to his welfare.

The teacher also needs understanding. Understanding a behaviour is not a means of diluting or excusing the behaviour. Understanding involves recognising the effects of the threatening behaviour on the children and a determination that this threat has to be removed. It also involves looking at what causes the teacher to act in this way. The school must provide the help needed for this teacher, including professional help, when required.