Children hit, roughed up, threatened and humiliated by teachers in front of the whole class. Whether we like it or not, it is the reality that happens in many schools in Romania, where education is still done with the stick and the palm. All with the tacit approval of other teachers, principals and sometimes even parents. “What happened at the school in Prahova, where a 3rd grade child was “ruffled” by the teacher, should make everyone think and raise a big alarm signal“, the psychologist Radu Leca declared for “Adevărul”.
Aggressive teachers should no longer have the right to teach, experts believe. Archive
“I’ll go to God and say you beat me”
A small child, in primary class, traumatized at school by teachers, is a child whose wings were cut off before he learned to fly, according to psychologist Radu Leca. “If you want to demean a child and make him the worst version of himself, then you, as a teacher, will hit him and humiliate him. When the child is humiliated in front of all the other peers, traumatized from a physical and psychological point of view, inside his mind appears, based on the notions of fear and shame, along with the notion of public humiliation, the desire to do harm . It is a feeling of revenge that is born in his soul and that can grind him for a long time, maybe even his whole life”. is the opinion of the specialist.
The psychologist gave us as an example the case of a four-year-old boy from Călăraşi who was frequently beaten by his alcoholic and drug-addicted father “It was a case that shook me, which I, I tell you honestly, redirected because it affected me terribly. It happened a few years ago. The child was being mistreated simply because he looked like his mother, whom the man hated and had separated from. Do you know what the little boy said to the father before another round of slaps and the belt? “I, when I’m going to die, I’m going to go to God and tell him you beat me.” That’s how the child felt that he was taking revenge, that he was getting justice.”
The psychologist explained that beating, aggression, physical or emotional violence do not correct behaviors. On the contrary. The victim will carry traumas in his soul that will accompany him throughout his life. “When a child is abused by the representative of the academic authority, in front of all his other colleagues, we have multiple traumas that he stores. Shame on himself for not being able to defend himself. Shame in relation to the other classmates because they had to see how he was humiliated by the teacher. And, obviously, the immense desire to take revenge on the teacher”.
Psychologist: “The victim needs validation of the feelings he experiences”
The psychologist recommends that parents react as soon as they find out that a teacher has assaulted their child. “Parents should go to the authorities and file complaints everywhere: to the police, to the School Inspectorate, to the Ministry of Education, to Directorate for Child Protection”.
Then, the aggrieved student must be urgently removed from the environment in which the respective teaching staff works. “Parents should no longer leave their child in the same space with the aggressor. That teacher should not be allowed anywhere near the child. Even a protective order would be indicated, a measure to prevent the teacher from manipulating the student, from influencing him, from making him withdraw his accusations. Because this aggressor will try. To minimize that child’s suffering, to manipulate the truth. He will try to defend himself, to justify his gesture or deed both in front of the child, his colleagues in the chancellery, and in front of his parents.” considers Radu Leca.
He advises the parents of the student from Prahova to contact a psychologist because this child needs counseling. “Psychological counseling is necessary and, obviously, some personal and emotional development sessions are mandatory. The child must be helped to reintegrate in the classroom, in the school, in the academic environment. Let’s not forget that every day he walks into the same classroom where he was beaten and humiliated. Then, this child comes into daily contact with his colleagues who might mock him out of malice or protect him out of kindness”.
Any student mistreated at school by a teacher, if they do not receive specialist help, will be severely traumatized “until the moment when, as a young adult, he will again be faced with the fait accompli, when the next teacher hits his child. And he will then react with anger. Some feelings and reactions that he experienced as a child will then be reactivated,” says the specialist.
The parents of the bullied student at the school in Prahova should offer the child emotional support, understanding, love. “The child needs now, more than ever, someone to protect him, to make him feel safe. And through the prompt reaction they had, the parents validated the child’s suffering, the trauma. And this is a very good thing, a first step towards healing”.
The teachers, mentally and psychologically expert
The teacher from the school in Moeciu, Prahova county, who assaulted her student by pulling his hair, is on the verge of retirement. I asked Radu Leca if age, in the case of certain teachers, somehow doesn’t speak for itself. “Older people fall into several categories from the point of view of the idea of teaching, but two are very important: people who are close to retirement age and who are still patient with the children in the classroom but are raging at home, and people who they are patient at home, but they are no longer patient at school. To be very clear”said the psychologist. He is of the opinion that the teacher has nothing more to do in the chair, she should no longer teach in the classroom. “Parents should react, because such behaviors have no place in school. It should be boycotted at the school level. No child should ever be hit, beaten or humiliated by a teacher. No child from that school should enter the class where she teaches.”
The psychologist believes that such situations would no longer occur if all teaching staff, from the youngest teachers to the oldest, went through a series of psychological and psychiatric examinations once every 6 months. “These two expertises should be carried out in state specialized hospitals, not in private offices. And only on the basis of these documents, teachers should be able to carry out their work”.
Furthermore, psychologist Radu Leca believes that teachers should attend psychotherapy sessions once a week. “To have balanced people in the class. Without the involvement of psychotherapists, without psychological and psychiatric expertise, our children are in danger”.
The child must be taught not to accept aggression from those around him
What should a student do when a teacher tends to bully them? What can a child do in those moments when he sees and knows exactly what is going to happen? How to react to the aggressor? “The child must learn to protect himself. First of all. Then get up from the bench and leave the classroom. To refuse to reach out when asked to be slapped. Not to sit and wait passively to be eared, hit on the back of the head, slapped or pulled by the hair. The student must leave the respective room, go directly to the principal’s office and call 112. Or ask for help from other teachers in the school. Any incident must be reported.”
But what do you do when teachers make a common front? Do they ally themselves, do they cover each other? Do they try to either not get involved at all, remain neutral, or jump to the defense of their fellow aggressor? “Teachers meet in the office, talk to each other, tell certain things about the children, get to know each other and often cover for each other. Many of themalthough they know the acts of aggression of their colleagues, they choose not to intervene, they choose to remain silent. Indirectly they are also guilty, indirectly they are also aggressors. By silence they are complicit in violence,” psychologist Radu Leca also said.
