If there is any legacy that my generation of Canadian parents will leave, it will be that we "lost the farm" when it came to teaching our children respect, civility and self-discipline.

Today, in our schools, the single most painful manifestation of this failure is the growing amount of violence directed at teachers.

Every year I encounter more teachers, veteran and new, fearing for their safety. What's more, recent research suggests that their concerns have merit.

A 2005 survey by the Canadian Teachers' Federation found 35 per cent of teachers reporting that they had witnessed an act of physical aggression by students against their instructor. This is up from 29 per cent in 2001.

Another, more recent survey of over 2,000 teachers in Quebec's French system found 85 per cent had experienced some form of physical or psychological violence, including threats and intimidation, at the hands of their students.

Half of the respondents said they had been physically assaulted, including having been shoved (43 per cent) or having been punched or kicked (20 per cent). Seven per cent of those had suffered injuries.

What is going on here? Is this, as some might suggest, a decline in the moral fabric of young people today; or is this more a failure on the part of parents and the school system to effectively control such behaviour.

In my humble opinion, the latter seems more the case.

The bar for assault

From what I can see, there is an impression out there that the legal bar for assault should be higher when it is committed against a teacher on school property.

Posters on a classroom door at a west-end Toronto high school in February 2000 where gun shots in the school's parking lot sent three teenage boys to hospital. (Canadian Press)

So an assault, even a relatively minor one that in the so-called real world could warrant the laying of charges, is instead dealt with in the school as "an inappropriate act."

The apparent logic here is that a student who might assault a teacher is often going through difficult emotional issues and that he or she must be allowed a chance to make mistakes and develop self-control in a "caring" environment that tries to "connect" to their emotional needs.

It sounds nice, doesn't it? But, in my experience, it can often lead to bullying students taking advantage of the modern school system's compassion as a licence to prey on authority figures and other students.

So where exactly should the bar for assault be if it occurs at the school and is directed against a teacher?

I think the answer is simple: At a minimum, it should sit exactly where it is for the rest of society, maybe even a bit higher.

Oppositional disorder

Now do I think that a Grade 4 student who throws a tantrum and strikes the teacher should be taken away in handcuffs? Of course not.

But that does not eliminate the absolute requirement that the child and his parent or guardian must clearly be held to account and that everything be done to protect teachers against similar outbursts in the future.

Since starting in the profession, I have been fed a hearty buffet of new fangled, ivory tower-generated psychological and behavioural categories for students.

Fine. But when applied, many of these seem, perhaps unintentionally, to generate an aura of acceptability to what otherwise would be totally inappropriate behaviour.

As a result, the young person who regularly throws violent temper tantrums might now be classified as suffering from "temper dysregulation disorder with dysphoria," the last bit referring to an emotional state caused by anxiety or unease, pretty broad classifications.

Similarly, students who are persistently defiant, confrontational and unable to control their temper are candidates for the "oppositional defiant disorder" stamp.

And, of course let's not forget the ever-growing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to round out the buffet.

Truly, students whose actions and behaviour fit the above categories need extra help and attention — but not at the cost of the safety and security of the school community.

The slippery slope

Here in the teaching trenches, it is become increasingly apparent to me that the single biggest cause of violence against teachers is that students feel socially empowered to confront authority with little or no regard for any consequences.

It's a slippery slope that begins with a culture of entitlement among young people that allows for well-rehearsed and articulated rights without any corresponding obligation towards the broader community.

It also probably feeds on our society's growing tolerance towards gratuitous violence fueled in large part by the media and the growing array of violent video games.

But it blossoms with the permissive attitude towards discipline that my generation of parents and principals too often apply.

I also have to admit that these attitudes are often sustained by many of my fellow teachers who, in the name of some perversely self-sacrificing sense of "professionalism," are willing to put up with it all.

I think this is absolutely wrong.

Indeed, I do not believe that teachers deserve the same level of protection from violence and abuse at schools as students do. No, I believe we deserve even more.

Sounds selfish? Well actually it isn't.

Teachers are charged with ensuring the safety and security of their students. And if the authority of the teacher is not protected to the highest degree, then just how can that same teacher reach out and protect those in his classroom who might also be the target of harassment or violence by other students?

Like it or not, we are what makes the school run and what makes the school safe.

Protect us and you protect the school.