Victoria teachers say school violence an ‘epidemic,’ report tells of 6,000 incidents

But seeing the numbers gave weight to just how serious the issue of violence in schools in Victoria and elsewhere had become.

“I’ve heard over and over again from teachers (saying), ‘Why don’t people know about this? Why is a secret?” Howe said. “And I just hope that this shines a light to give those teachers a voice.”

“I’ve taught for 20 years in elementary school in Victoria, and I have experienced this myself. I’ve had things thrown at me. I’ve been kicked, hit, scratched, bitten. I’ve been shouted at and threatened by students.”

In the report, responding teachers say the violence reported included “hitting, throwing (and) table flipping,” with one respondent calling “the constant vigilance” required to deal with the violence “exhausting.”

The report also described violence including self-harm by students.

One elementary school teacher described an incident in which a student head-butted an exterior door window “so hard that the window spider-webbed and broke.”

“This happened twice, on two different windows on two different occasions, by the same student,” the unnamed teacher was quoted as saying.

“We’ve also had students body-slam into the hallway walls several times in a row, for 10 minutes at a time, while the entire class was inside, feeling and hearing the vibrations and sound.”

The majority of teachers surveyed said school violence had increased during their career, with 52 per cent calling current prevention programs ineffective and almost half saying they had experienced violence in the workplace at least once a week.

Howe said teachers believed the violence came from “systemic problems in Canadian society” such as poverty, access to health care and the use of mobile devices putting more pressure on children.

The report recommended changes for both the school district and from the province, including providing “adequate alternative spaces” for students and developing a comprehensive plan for responding to violent incidents.

It also called for the province to initiate a study on child mental health and its impact on schools at all levels, modify funding formulas for constructing new school spaces, and “drastically” improve student-educator ratios for both teaching and mental health support.

The Ministry of Education and Child Care said in an emailed response that it is “committed to strengthening inclusion in B.C.’s K-12 schools” while maintaining the safety and well-being of everyone in the educational environment.

“We are always interested in hearing from students, staff and educators working directly in our schools and will review the report,” the statement said.

“School boards in B.C. are responsible for local staffing decisions, and, as the employer, are directly responsible for their staff’s safety.”

The Greater Victoria School District said in a statement that it could not comment on the report as it was still being reviewed, but added that safety and well-being of students and staff had always been the school district’s “top priority.”

“Every educator and student deserves to learn and work in safe environments, and the District continues to encourage collaborative conversations with community and educational partners to create safe learning and working spaces for all,” the statement said.

The Greater Victoria School District had previously been in the news after nine trustees were fired, then reinstated over the debate of whether to have police liaisons at local schools.

The trustees had argued the police liaisons made some students feel unsafe when it ended the program in 2023, but it was reinstated by the school district in 2025 after the trustees were removed.

The trustees were then reinstated this year.

The report does not mention the police liaison program, and Howe said that is not an oversight.

“No kindergarten teacher wants an armed police officer coming in to respond to a child who’s throwing things and screaming,” she said. “That’s a completely inappropriate response.

“A police presence in our schools really shows that they completely lack an understanding of what is making our schools not safe.”

She said that while many people might envisage school violence as “a high school kid with a knife or a fight,” that was not what teachers were seeing.

“We’re seeing massive amounts of violence in elementary school, particularly, and then next in middle schools of kids who just aren’t coping well.”

Howe added that the school district was aware of the issue but said it was limited by the funding model provided by the province.

“The province really needs to listen,” she said. “This should have been a wake-up call. People have been talking about this for a long time.

Howe also said Victoria’s teachers were not alone in experiencing violence at school.

“It is not like a problem in Victoria alone,” she said. “We know this is provincial and in fact, it’s a national problem … If you asked any elementary teacher across the province, ‘what do you know about violence in schools,’ they will all have something to tell you.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2026.

Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Victoria teachers say school violence an ‘epidemic,’ report tells of 6,000 incidents

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