Schools principals and the need to discipline unruly parents

Best practice in education has always been to encourage parents to be involved – children’s outcomes improve if parents can communicate constructively with teachers and support learning at home.

But increasingly, parents are being abusive and demanding towards teachers and making extreme demands on their time. It can be everything from insisting a child is in a particular class or particular camp, to harassing emails and outright intimidation.

The Minns government now wants to give principals power to ban adults who engage in threatening or abusive behaviour towards students, staff, or other community members, from school grounds or at school-related activities such as sporting events or excursions.

The amendments to School Community Safety Orders and Protection Orders will apply to government, Catholic and independent schools across NSW. They come as Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Surveys graphically document the soaring abuse of school principals.

A 2024 survey of Australian school leaders from across the school spectrum found 50 per cent had been subjected to physical violence. One in five of those harmed said parents were the source. The same survey reported physical violence incidents had climbed by 81.6 per cent since 2011. More than 35 per cent reported being cyberbullied, and almost 90 per cent said parents were responsible.

Of course, the issue is reflective of a wider social problem affecting many sectors – nursing, first responders and retail workers, too.

Schools have their own unique culture. Most parents respect teachers, and understand that they are highly trained professionals. They also know that a co-operative relationship leads to the best outcome for their child. But a sizeable minority have become so inconsiderate that some schools are now averse to disclosing a teacher’s email for fear their staff will be harassed or abused or that they will be expected to respond instantly at all hours. In some sectors, particularly where high fees are involved, there are parents who behave more like demanding customers than partners in their child’s education.

These laws, which are targeted at the most extreme cases, appear necessary. Teachers, most of whom are women, have the right – like all of us – to do their jobs without threats and harassment. It’s important for our children and for society in general that people want to choose careers in teaching, and that they feel safe and protected at work.

Over the years, there have been attempts to increase and curtail the power of principals. These laws represent an increase. There is no doubt it is a tough job, but a good principal can radically transform lives, while a bad one can stifle the potential of countless students and teachers.

For that reason, we believe the government should include guardrails on its proposed changes.

The new law should be accompanied by information about alternative ways parents can lodge complaints or concerns if they feel their legitimate queries are being ignored or dismissed by their child’s school.

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