The surprising job where half of high-powered professionals are threatened with violence – and why it’s only getting worse
- A study of 2,590 school principals found that 44.3 percent of them faced violence
- A similar proportion or 39.4 percent have been physically abused on the job
- Australian Catholic University study finds young headmasters are burnt out
New research finds that nearly half of school principals in Australia have been threatened with violence and nearly as many have been assaulted.
An Australian Catholic University study of 2,590 school leaders found that many of them were battling burnout and mental health problems due to the pandemic.
The plan for distance learning and COVID restrictions forced principals to work an average of 55.6 hours a week in 2021, significantly higher than the standard 40-hour full-time week.
On top of this, 44.3 percent of them have been threatened with violence, which is 5.7 times more than the general population.
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Nearly half of Australia’s school principals have been threatened with violence as a large number are physically assaulted on the job, new research has found (picture is a stock image)
Worryingly, 39.4 percent have endured physical violence – 10 times the level of the wider community.
“The increasing trend of physical violence and threats of violence before the pandemic has returned in 2021,” the annual report said.
A third of principals have been subjected to bullying and cyberbullying.
Report co-author Professor Herb March from ACU’s Institute for Positive Psychology and Education said that small school principals in particular were struggling.
“The 2021 survey tells us that younger and less experienced people are reporting higher levels of stress than their more experienced peers,” he said.
Ann Rebetz, principal of St James’s College in Spring Hill, in Brisbane’s inner north, said many principals were struggling to cope with burnout.
Ann Rebetz, principal of St James’s College in Spring Hill, in Brisbane’s inner north, said many principals were struggling to cope with burnout.
‘In a day, you can have a hundred emails; Hundred workers to deal with; Hundreds of students to deal with; An incident that walks in the door and a parent who is very distressed comes in; a student who is injured in the playground; An event that goes wrong,’ she said.
A teacher from the Northern Territory told the Australian Principal Occupational Health and Wellbeing Survey that it would be difficult to keep principals and teachers in the region.
“Recruitment and retention are going to be challenging going forward – they are already in our place, but my guess is that it is going to get worse across the country and around the world,” she said.
Nearly one in two headmasters, or 44.3 percent of them, have been victims of violence, a level more than 5.7 times that of the general population.