Texas Students Are Abusing Their Teachers, and It’s a Huge Problem

There's been an unsettling uptick in student violence against teachers in Texas. Over 4,000 reports of student-caused injuries were made by teachers and school faculty in Bexar County over the past two years alone, according to a recent investigation by KSAT.

An utter lack of previous data made it particularly hard for KSAT investigators to identify trending factors that led to the violence against teachers. However, countless educators have reported that things are getting much worse.

For example, a Steele High School teacher sustained a traumatic brain injury as a result of an injury by a student on campus, and just last year, an instructional aide from Northside Independent School District died after being assaulted by a student.

While 4000 reports in one Texas county over two years sounds staggering, Tom Cummins, the president of Bexar County Federation of Teachers, believes the numbers are much higher. They don't account for the injuries that go unreported.

So, why does it seem Texas students are becoming more violent toward their teachers?

Not enough teachers, poor environments for students to succeed, and a lack of funding have all been mentioned as possible reasons. Unfortunately, the Texas Education Agency doesn't track the number of educators who are injured or hurt by students, only the number of students disciplined for injuring teachers. Without all of the facts, it's hard to put an exact finger on the problem.

House Bill 6 would give educators more authority when it comes to disciplining students who exhibit disruptive and dangerous behavior, but some teachers believe that would only be a band-aid of sorts. Removing a violent child from a classroom briefly still doesn't address the meat of the issue, which is that Texas students are hurting their teachers.

Are you a Texas educator? I'd love to hear from you. Email me at Chrissy.Covington@townsquaremedia.com if you have insight you'd like to share, or suggestions for ways to combat this problem. Let's keep the conversation going.

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