Sixth graders in Israel recount their experience of verbal abuse by teachers in the classroom

Child Abuse & Neglect 63 (2017) 95–105

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Child Abuse & Neglect

Research article

Sixth graders in Israel recount their experience of verbal abuse by teachers in the classroom Brenda Geiger ∗ Western Galilee College, Israel

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history: Received 23 November 2015 Received in revised form 9 November 2016 Accepted 21 November 2016 Keywords: Verbal abuse by teacher Qualitative Elementary public schools 6th graders perspective

a b s t r a c t Aim: This study adopts a children’s rights perspective stated in Articles 3, 12, 19, 28 of the Convention on the Rights of Children (1989) with the goal of listening to Israeli children articulate their experience of verbal abuse by teachers in 6th grade classrooms Methods: A purposeful sample of sixty students was individually interviewed and content analysis was performed following Strauss’ (1987) constant comparative method. Results: Students reported teachers’ yelling, name-calling and put-downs when failing to pay attention, complete their work, or obtain good grades. They condemned teachers as particularly hurtful and cruel for publically humiliating them in class. However, awareness of teachers’ authority and fear of reprisal led to students’ silence and reluctance to report the abuse to their parents or principal. Covert opposition was nevertheless exhibited as students engaged in a silent monologue telling teachers they had no right to mistreat them (females), silently cursing (males) and/or withdrawing participation (both genders). Repeated public humiliation and scapegoating resulted in the loss of interest in teacher’s opinion and school and on rare occasions to the direct verbal confrontation or acting-out behaviour of the abused student. Conclusion: This study stresses the importance of gaining insight into the world of children by having them articulate their experience and denounce any form of abuse by teachers in the classroom. A child-safe school culture that listen to children’s view and make them feel safe when reporting any form of abuse in the classroom are preconditions to serving children’s best interests and wellbeing in schools. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This qualitative study adopts a children rights perspective (Articles, 3, 12, 19, 28) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child UNCRC (1989) with the goal of listening to Israeli elementary school children convey their experiences of verbal abuse by teachers in 6th grade classrooms. Article 3 of UNCRC states as its primary goal the protection of children’ best interests. To that effect, Article 12 establishes the right of children to form, and express their view and be listened to in all matters affecting their life and Article 19 demands the protection of children from physical, sexual or emotional abuse or neglect by any person responsible for the child’s safety and care. Article 28 establishes children’s right to education and the imperative that school discipline be administered in a manner that is consistent with the child’s right for respect and dignity. Article 29 states that the goal of education is the development of a child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential and preparation of the child for a responsible life respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms in a free society.

∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.11.019 0145-2134/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Several Children Protection Acts (1993), Children Act (2004), United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Children (UNCRC, 2009, 2013), Dignity in Schools Campaign (MCED, 2013) and Child Participation Initiatives (Lansdown, Jimerson, & Shahroozi, 2014) have recommended a human rights framework in education to ensure that children’s rights will not be left at the door of the school in the 196 countries that have ratified the convention (UNCRC, update 2016). These guidelines call for a child-safe school culture that respect children’s dignity, protect them from degrading and punitive discipline practices, and provide them with a framework in which they may be listened to when denouncing such practices with specific procedures to appeal suspension or expulsion (MCED, 2013; UNCRC, 2013). United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 2009) acknowledges the belief espoused by most societies that adults, responsible of the care and education of children, are in the best position to protect the best interests of the children under their care. The UNCRC (2009, paragraphs 70–7) also emphasizes the close relationship between Article 3, 12 and 19, namely, that adults will be in the best position to serve those interests only when they enable the children under their care to express their views in accordance with their age and maturity (Article 12). By extension, within a school framework, only when children are encouraged to articulate their experience at school and listened to when exposing the violations of their rights to be treated with respect and dignity and protected from all forms of abuse in the classroom that children’s best interests will be served (Brassard and Fiorvanti, 2014; Lansdown et al., 2014) The evaluation of Children Participation Initiatives implemented in developed and developing countries such as Ghana, Egypt, Nicaragua, the United Kingdom, and Sweden, provide evidence of their effectiveness in promoting children’s academic self-esteem, their well-being as students, their involvement in learning (Checkoway, 2011; Lansdown et al., 2014; Lansdown, 2011; United Nations Children’s Fund, 2006). Similarly, school-based abuse prevention initiatives such as Safe Me, Safe You and Stay Safe (Cullen, Lawlor, & MacIntyre, 1998; MacIntyre and Carr, 1999) in which students, teachers and parents participated in active roleplaying, participant and video modelling and discussions on issues related to physical and sexual abuse have been found effective in increasing students’ knowledge and protective behaviours (Brassard & Fiorvanti, 2014; MacIntyre, & Carr, 1999; MacMillan et al., 2009). Nevertheless, the programs so far implemented have failed to include guidelines for the prevention of emotional and verbal abuse and its devastating effects on the children’s well-being and development (Brassard & Fiorvanti, 2014; MacMillan et al., 2009). In accordance with the internationally ratified United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child and Child Safe Abuse Prevention programs and Participation Initiatives, this study views children as the important contributors to the decisions affecting their school life and in the best position to inform us about their experience of verbal abuse by teachers in the classroom. Within a classroom framework, teachers play a central role in students’ self-appraisal as they reflect through their attitudes, comments and evaluation their value and worth as students (Casarjian, 2000; Glaser, 2002; Kairys & Johnson, 2002; King & Janson, 2009; McEachern, Aluede, & Kenny, 2008; Twemlow & Fonagy, 2005). Based on this information, children who generally have few internal criteria of self-evaluation will judge their scholastic abilities, achievements and self-efficacy as learners (Akey, 2006; Bandura, 1997; Rosenfeld, Richman, & Bowen, 2000). It is therefore, incumbent on teachers to refrain from engaging in verbally abusive practices that erode or have the potential to erode students’ self-worth, and dignity and thereby, affect their well- being and growth (Casey, 2014; Casarjian, 2000; Glaser, 2002; Kairys & Johnson, 2002; King & Janson, 2009; McEachern et al., 2008; Twemlow & Fonagy, 2005). The terms verbal/emotional abuse/aggression by teachers are commonly used to refer to a continuous and repetitive pattern of negative behaviours toward a child who is under their care and protection. Among such behaviours are acts of commission such as spurning, terrorizing, isolating, exploiting, or corrupting, and/or acts of omission such as failing to provide an emotionally safe environment, being unavailable and/or unresponsive to the students’ need for emotional support, and/or assistance with their work (CAN protection guidelines, 2015; Kairys & Johnson, 2002; MCED, 2013; Spectrum, 2006). Research on verbal maltreatment/aggression by teachers in primary grades classroom has generally focused on schools located in African, Eastern, and Middle Eastern countries that continue to adopt as legitimate beating and humiliating disciplinary practices. In studies conducted in Botswana (Osei-Hwedie & Hobona, 2001), Zimbabwe (Shumba, 2001, 2002), Asia (Maki & Kitano, 2002), and the Middle East (Youssef, Attia, & Kamel, 1998) the majorityof the teachers surveyed reported using public shaming and humiliation to manage their classroom and enforce discipline. In Western countries the topic verbal/emotional abuse has received little research attention based on the erroneous assumption that since physical punishment has been banned from schools, children are now protected from cruel disciplinary practices (McEachern et al., 2008; White & Flynt, 2000). The topic of teacher verbal abuse/maltreatment has nevertheless been indirectly addressed in research examining the impact of poor quality teacher-student relationships as perceived by parents and teachers on the cognitive and socialemotional development of children throughout elementary school grades (Brendgen, Wanner, Vitaro, Bukowski, & Tremblay, 2007; Casarjian, 2000). In both studies, the rate of children experiencing a poor relationship with teachers was reported to be 15 percent with males being more likely than females to experience such a relationship despite the lack of significant differences between genders in attention problems, school achievements, and acting out behaviours (Brendgen et al., 2007; Casarjian, 2000). A poor teacher-children relationship was found to be the main predictor throughout elementary school grades of the reduction in students’ positive work habits (Brendgen et al., 2007) motivation to learn, remain on task, and/or complete school assignments (Hamre & Pianta, 2001; McEachern et al., 2008; Maldonado-Carren & Votruba-Drzal, 2011; Pianta, Hamre, & Stuhlman, 2003). Research on classroom interactional justice indicated the centrality of teachers as powerful norm senders and models of fairness. Teachers who were perceived by students as fair and respectful of their feelings were found to promote a

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classroom culture of mutual respect and acceptance. On the contrary, the perception of teachers as indifferent, rejecting, and emotionally unresponsive was found to be directly related to students’ oppositional, belligerent, and acting out behaviour (Hamre & Pianta, 2006; McEachern et al., 2008; Stevens, 1996). Studies examining emotional/verbal maltreatment by teachers from the perspective of school-aged children in Israel are rare and provide, at most, anecdotal evidence. Benbenishty, Zeira, and Astor (2002), Benbenishty, Astor, and Zeira (2003) national surveys on violence in Israeli schools included a large sample (N = 15,000) of elementary school children in 1st through 6th grade. However, the topic of emotional maltreatment remained marginal with only one question inquiring about the frequency with which students had been harassed/belittled by school staffs. Despite the paucity of data, the rate of students reporting such experience was substantial and amounted to 20–25 percent (Benbenishty et al., 2002, 2003). Briggs and Nichols (2001) were among the first researchers in education to claim that children’s views of the reality they experience at school may not coincide with those of adults around them and consequently proceeded in conducting a self- report survey with 311 elementary school students aged 5–9 years from seventy-five Australian schools. In their study, two-thirds of the students surveyed reported that teachers shouted, screamed and/or yelled when angry at them, with 45 percent of them attributing these negative behaviours to their bad manners and 33 percent to not doing their work. Additionally, one third of the students surveyed reported that these behaviours made them feel bad (Briggs & Nichols, 2001). The percentage of students reporting disliking school was found to increase from 5 to 8 years of age with a significant difference between genders in such a dislike. Upon elementary school entrance, at 5 years of age, 6.4 percent of the male as opposed to no female students reported disliking school most or all the time. By 8 years of age, 59 percent of male as opposed to 6.6 percent of female students reported such dislike (Briggs & Nichols, 2001). Acknowledging that they had neglected to examine the frequency and impact of teachers’ reprimands on the feelings and behaviour of the students surveyed Briggs and Nichols (2001) recommended further studies to investigate children’ experience and progressive dislike for school. Surveys with elementary school children are evidently more instructive than those with parents and teachers since they are better able to capture children’s views of the world they experience in the classroom. However, the forced-choice answer-format used in surveys seldom allows children to freely report in their own words and from their own perspective what is happening in the classroom. This study takes up this challenge as it encouraged 12–13 years old Israeli children in 6th grade to tell in their own words and from their own perspective (1) what it means to be verbally attacked by teachers in the classroom, (2) how they feel and react when exposed to such attacks, (3) the accounts they provide to justify or alternatively condemn such attacks, and (4) the dynamic and contextual factors that lead 6th graders to overtly confront teachers whom they perceive to be abusive. In this study verbal abuse by teachers in the classroom encompassed putdowns, name-calling, yelling, and scapegoating engaged in by teachers when attacking students for their deficient scholastic abilities, work habits, and achievements. Other forms of emotional/verbal abuse by teachers targeting students’ ethnic and cultural background, were excluded from this study and addressed in a prior research (Geiger, 2011). The importance of this study cannot be overemphasized since it aims at providing important information about a disturbing and often neglected form of abuse – verbal/emotional maltreatment in an under-studied population of elementary school children. By conveying children experience in their own words this study is expected to give parents, researchers and policy-makers concerned with children’s well-being a visceral experience of the reality they experience in Israeli classrooms and thereby, increase the awareness for the need to listen to children when formulating and implementing school based child-safe policies and programs geared at the prevention of verbal/emotional abuse by teachers and consequent detrimental effects on children’s well- being and development. 1. Methods 1.1. Sample recruitment A purposive sample of 60 students (40 males, 20 females), 12–13 years of age and in 6th grade were recruited from five randomly selected neighbourhood community centres (Matnasim) located in three developmental towns in the Northern periphery of Israel. Community centres in Israel are funded by the tax revenues from the national lottery to provide afterschool activities for youth. In each one of the five neighbourhood community centres, the researchers approached 32 sixth graders (N = 160), who were waiting for their sport classes and/or other after-school activities and asked them in groups of four students of the same gender about their experience of teachers’ put-downs in the classroom. The sixty students who reported witnessing or experiencing teachers’ put downs in the classroom constituted the purposive sample of this qualitative study. The rational for choosing 12–13 years old students was based on previous research findings (Benbenishty et al., 2002), indicating that this age group was at the highest risk of experiencing violence at school. Being the oldest among elementary school students and about to move to middle school, 6th graders were expected to be less reluctant to break the code of silence and to be more competent in conveying their experience of teachers’ emotional/verbal maltreatment. 1.2. Informed consent The sixty students selected for this study were approached individually and asked if they agreed to be interviewed to share more of their experience of teacher-student interaction in the classroom. After obtaining students’ assent, a non-objection

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letter was sent to the parents of the students as was recommended in previous research by the research Department of the Israeli Ministry of Education. In this letter the purpose of the study was explained as “wanting to know more about teacherstudent interaction”. It was also noted that students’ participation in the study was voluntary and that their anonymity will be protected by deleting all names and identifying information. They were also informed that the interviews would be audio-taped. Parents were thereafter, asked to respond within a month of receiving the letter in case they objected to their child’s participation in the study. 1.3. Instrumentation The individual semi-structured interview viewed as “a directional conversation that elicits the inner views of the respondents” (Charmaz, 1991, p. 385) was chosen as the most appropriate research tool with young adolescents who are not usually eager to volunteer information to adults (Charmaz, 1991; Krueger & Casey, 2000). The interview followed an interview guide to guarantee that all the desired topics were addressed by all the students interviewed. To make sure that research participants understood the terms “verbal/emotional abuse” they were asked to comment on the saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me!” and on what it means to be hurt by words. Based on initial interviews the researcher found that the most common terms used by Israeli 6th graders to refer to teachers’ verbal/emotional abuse were getting (yoredet) on a student’s case or characteristics and attacking a student or his/her characteristics. These terms were used in subsequent interviews and the terms “put-downs” or “verbal attacks” were used by the author to report the findings to English speakers. To guarantee that all the topics would be covered, the interviewer relied on an interview guide. Some of the questions in this guide asked students whether and under what circumstances teachers get on a students’ case and attacked them in class and what they felt and how they reacted to such attacks. Additional questions asked students to explain why they think their teacher verbally attacked them and put them down and if there were any circumstances under which the teacher’s behaviour would be justified. They were asked whether they reported the teachers’ abusive behaviours. Finally, students were asked under what conditions and whether they could justify students’ overt confrontation toward a teacher they perceived abusive and the remedies they proposed to prevent verbally abusive interactions in the classroom. 1.4. Procedure Prior to conducting the interview, two graduate students trained in the art of interviewing and the researcher clarified to the students interviewed that they neither were teachers nor school employees, but researchers whose genuine interest was to “learn more about teacher-student interaction in the classroom.” This statement aimed at enhancing rapport and at lowering students’ resistance and fear of punishment. All the interviews took place in one of the community centre rooms, in the afternoon when the students waited for after school activities to start. The interviews were conducted in Hebrew, and lasted between 60 and 90 min. To allow for the students’ answers to naturally flow, the order of the topics appearing in the interview guide was not always followed. Furthermore, to keep interference to a minimum, the researcher asked for clarifications or examples only when the student paused or finished answering. 1.5. Content analysis Content analysis of these interviews followed Strauss’ inductive constant comparative method (Patton, 2002; Strauss 1987). By comparing and contrasting students’ narratives for similarities and differences, the researcher identified main themes and categories emerging in children’s experiences (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). It should be reiterated that the sixty students privately interviewed were studying in five different elementary schools and therefore, referred to different abusive teachers during the interviews. Given that the content analysis was based on the subjective meaning and interpretation of students facing the common experience of verbal/emotional maltreatment by teachers, the question of “objectivity” and fact validation did not arise in this study (Bruner, 1990; Denzin, 1989). Nevertheless, to increase the reliability of the qualitative data obtained and reduce any potential bias that may have emerged from a single analyst, triangulation was performed by having an additional researcher analyse one-third of the interview narratives. Any inter-analyst disagreement on a topic, theme, or category inductively derived from the students’ narratives was discussed among the researchers until an agreement was reached (Patton, 2002). At the research report writing phase, the researcher used multiple quotes from content-rich students’ narratives (Denzin, 1989). Before each quote the author specified whether the quote reflected the common experience of all (above 95%), the majority/most (70%–90%) or some (35% to 50%) of the students interviewed.The goal of this extensive quoting was to enable the reader to listen to the voice of elementary school children sharing their experience in their own words and from their own perspective (Bruner, 1990; Guba & Lincoln, 1989). The quotes, originally in Hebrew, were translated into English for publication purposes and back-translated by a second analyst to insure the quality of the translation. The gender of the student quoted was indicated next to each quote. It should also be noted that for convenience the author used the possessive term “their” for teachers although the students interviewed did not always have the same teachers since they were recruited from five different schools.

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2. Results 2.1. Explaining what being hurt by words means To guarantee that the 6th graders interviewed knew the meaning of verbal/emotional abuse the interviewer started by asking students their opinion on the saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me!”. The interviewers then proceeded by asking students how and under what circumstances the teachers get on their case and the characteristics and behaviours that are the target of teachers’ attacks. The students interviewed, unanimously, responded that this saying was not accurate since words may hurt as much as, if not more, than physical beatings since they permanently scar the soul. In thewords of the majority of the students, It is a wound that is not seen from the outside, but the words stay in your memory all your life. (Boy) I do not believe that this saying is right because scars remain when you are attacked and hurt. It is hard to forget and to forgive. (Girl) Most of the students also reported verbal put-downs, sarcasm, and ridicule by teachers when they could not understand the material taught or failed to obtain good grades. In their own words, She told this child “What! Is it too hard for you to think and make your little mind work!¨It was in the presence of the whole class! (Boy) The teacher said: “There are students who do not exploit their potential, but there are also students who do not have any potential! They come to class just to warm up their chair.¨(Boy) 2.2. Accounting for teachers’ negative behaviour Following these descriptions, the students interviewed were asked to account for their teachers’ negative behaviours. In their accounts, they often tried to justify teachers’ verbal attacks in terms of antecedent events and behaviours that had occurred in the classroom prior to the attack. The majority of the students interviewed explained that teachers understandably lost their temper, became angry and started yelling at them when they disrupted, did not pay attention, and/or did not prepare homework. In their own words, Whenever we do not prepare for our lessons the teacher gets mad and loses her temper. I think she gets disappointed. (Girl) The teacher is also a human being and she sometimes hurts and is deliberately offensive. (Boy) It was nevertheless hard, if not impossible for all the students interviewed to justify teachers’ yelling, put-downs and sarcasm when they had tried but failed, despite efforts to do so, to complete their assignments or give the right answer in class. In their own words, She gets on our case when we do not do homework. When I tell her that I did not understand, she answers, “You did not understand or did not want to understand? Did you even open your book at all? Did you try to understand or you decided ¨he yells and it is really embarrassing. (Boy) not to understand from the beginning?S The teacher yelled at me because I did not answer the question. She just yells and does not listen even if there is a reason why I did not answer correctly. It hurts very much. I blushed and was shaking. I was hot inside. I was really offended. I did not deserve it because I really put a lot of time into my work. (Girl) 2.3. Students’ feelings and reactions to teachers verbal attacks Most of the students in this research reported feeling attacked and hurt when teachers called them names or labelled them as lazy and incapable of doing anything worthwhile. In their own words, The teacher attacked me because I did not do my math homework. She told me that I was lazy! It hurts terribly. The math assignments are really hard. I did not react. I just wanted her to know that sometimes it is hard for me. (Girl) Majority of the interviewees emphasized that the intensity of the pain and humiliation they were experiencing was not only related to the content of the offending comments by teachers but also to the circumstances under which such comments were made. They invariably condemned teachers as particularly hurtful and cruel when subjecting them to sarcasm and ridicule in front of the entire class. In their own words, The teacher took his notebook and showed everyone that he did not do anything in the notebook. (Boy) The teacher said something very personal to a child in front of the whole class, and he was really embarrassed. She also sent a letter to his parents and wrote that they did not know how to educate their child. She left the letter on her desk and everyone could look at it. (Boy)

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2.4. Students’ initial reaction to put-down: silence Aware of the norm commanding respect for teachers’ authority and of the consequences for disobedience, all the students interviewed explained that the abusive teacher had the power to send them to the principal, suspend them, or expel them from school. Hence, they had to keep silent. In the words of the students, It is not always possible to get back at her because she will get angry and tell my parents, and even worse they will kick me out of school. (Boy) I did not have the time to finish all the homework, so she yelled at me. I was a little shocked. I cannot do anything against her. (Boy) They also explained that going to the principal to report the incident was useless since no action was ever taken. In their own words, She called him lazy and said “You’re not doing anything!” The student remained silent. He went to the principal, and the principal did nothing. (Boy) Similarly, most of the interviewees believed that nothing would be gained by involving parents. Some of the male students went as far as claiming that complaining to parents was childish, and that they were old enough to manage on their own problems. In their own words, I do not tell anything to my parents! What am I? A little child? (Boy) For most of the students of both genders, complaining to parents was inadvisable since their parents will take the teacher’s side or worse move them to another school and thus separate them from their friends. In the words of these students, They will always say that the teacher is right and that the student needs to be punished. (Girl) My parents will conduct an investigation? Why? For what purpose? I choose what I want to tell them so that they do not nag or move me to another school. (Boy) 2.5. Students’ covert reaction to teachers’ verbal attacks Despite their silence, most of the students covertly reacted to teachers’ verbal attacks. Female students reported engaging in a silent monologue during which they told the abusive teachers how hurt and humiliated they were and that they did not have the right to mistreat them. In the words of one of these students, I wanted to explain to her that she had no right to abuse me, but I did nothing. She is older than me, she is my teacher. I was afraid that she will call my parents. (Girl) In contrast, after being ridiculed and called “good for nothing” most of the male students reported wanting to get back at the teacher. Nevertheless, well aware of the high cost for such misbehaviour, they reported having to control themselves and resorted instead to silent cursing. In their own words, The teacher wants to say that I am good-for-nothing, but she tries to put it in fancy words. She told me, “You are behaving like an animal in the zoo.¨I was very offended; I wanted to get back at her, to break something so that she feels what I feel. But it is forbidden. (Boy) 2.6. The impact of teachers’ maltreatment on students’ learning Some targeted students reported their growing indifference for teachers’ opinions and evaluations of their abilities. In their own words, I did not have time to finish all the homework, so she yelled at me! I was a little shocked, but I cannot help it. She can shout as much as she wants. I will not let her irritate me. (Boy) Other students subjected to teachers’ attacks reported no longer wanting to attend class or go to school. They preferred to remain at home while feigning to be sick rather than endure further humiliation. In their own words, The teacher cannot prevent herself from yelling. She picks on me and humiliates me. I wanted to call my mother to come and pick me up. I did not want to ever come back! (Girl) 2.7. The escalation from covert to overt confrontation Teachers’ constant put-downs, taunting, and public humiliation, at times, led to the outburst of some of the attacked students and to their direct verbal confrontation with the abusive teacher. In the students’ own words,

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The teacher told a boy who did not know how to answer the questions: ‘Make an effort to think, you do not use your brain too much! I know that it is hard for you!’ The child was angry and told her, “What do you want from me! I do what I can! (Boy) The majority of the students interviewed also reported that on rare occasions, the repeated taunting, scapegoating, and public humiliation by teachers infuriated some of the targeted students who ended up acting-out in the classroom. No longer able to control his or her anger, the attacked student took any object at hand such as a chair, pencil, or notebook and threw it onto the floor, and/or left the classroom after slamming the door. In their own words, The teacher humiliated me when she showed my notebook to the whole class and said to the whole class that she does not want to see such a messy and untidy notebook. So I tore up my notebook. I raged in the classroom because she infuriated me. (Boy) Once, the teacher kept on screaming and yelling nasty things at a student. So he threw his chair down and left the class. Maybe I would have done the same thing to this teacher. She was going overboard. (Boy) 2.8. Students’ solutions to prevent verbal abuse by teachers When trying to find solutions to stop teachers’ put-downs and consequent escalation to verbal and physical acting out behaviour, the students interviewed often appealed to their vision of dedicated teachers. They expected teachers to remain calm, treat students with respect, and to have faith in their students’ emerging capabilities. In their words, The teacher should be gentle and talk nicely. I think it is much more effective to speak nicely and not in an offending manner so that the child could understand. Then, something good would come out of him. (Girl 5) Teachers should talk to their students with a little humour, without putting them down and yelling at them. (Girl) Given their young age and emerging abilities, the majority of the students expected teachers to be more supportive and understanding. They argued that, after all, they were children and consequently, were more vulnerable than adults. In their own words, Sometimes I deserve it when they get mad at me because like everyone else I am not perfect. At times I do not behave right and do not do my homework. But in my opinion the teacher should know how to criticize at the right dosage. I believe you can resolve things in a respectful and pleasant manner. The solution is to teach the teachers not to harm children, because they are very vulnerable. (Boy) More than anything, all students interviewed demanded the protection of their rights to respect and dignity and requesting from teachers to privately communicate any flaw and weakness rather than publically humiliating them in front of their class peers. In their own words, Once, a teacher yelled at me in front of the whole classroom because he thought that I was lying. I started to cry. Teachers should take you to the side and talk to you quietly. (Girl) The teacher can simply go to the student after class and talk to him nicely so he can really understand what is wrong. This way the student will not feel the need to talk back to the teacher. Teachers should relate to their students with patience and both sides should try to understand each other. (Girl) Finally, some of the students interviewed recommended the adoption of administrative and judicial measures to stop teachers’ verbal attacks. In the words of one of the students, The solution seems to have a law that stops teachers from attacking and yelling at their students; and those who violate this law should be fired. (Girl) 3. Discussion This qualitative study adopted a children’s rights perspective expressed in Article3, 12, 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) whose primary goal is to serve the best interests of children. This study was conducted with Israeli elementary school children who are perceived by the author as main contributors to their best interest and in the best position to articulate what was happening in their classroom, once they feel safe to do so. Children in 6th grade were asked about to tell in their own words what they felt, thought and reacted when they were verbally abused/attacked by teachers in class for their deficient scholastic abilities. During in-depth individual interviews, sixty students provided powerful descriptions of their feelings and reactions in response to the teachers who had belittled and shamed them for poor their work and achievements. Although perceived hurtful, the 6th graders interviewed could justify teachers’ verbal attacks as legitimate expressions of anger and frustration when they had failed to fulfil their obligations as students. However, they invariably condemned, as particularly humiliating and insensitive those teachers who publically ridiculed them in front of the whole classroom.

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In accordance with previous studies conducted with college students, this study shows that direct confrontation with abusive teachers was rare and often judged to be irrational (Chory-Assad & Paulsel, 2004; Chory-Assad, 2002). The 6th graders preferred to remain silent given the high price they would have to pay for such a confrontation. Additionally, the majority of the students interviewed were reluctant to report teachers’ abusive behaviours to their parents or to the principal. An explanation for this reluctance seems related to students’ belief that teachers’ authority will remain unquestioned since they are assumed to always know what is best for their students. Consequently, the great majority of the students interviewed did not expect parents to believe their complaints or react with empathy. With other researchers in the field, the author points to the ‘dark side’ of silence in classrooms and schools when children are prevented to express their views on what is best for them and denounce the abuse to which they are or may be exposed in the classroom (Lansdown et al., 2014; McPherson, Kearney, & Plax, 2003). As in previous studies, with a sample of college students (Chory-Assad & Paulsel, 2004; Chory-Assad, 2002), the 6th graders interviewed in the present study often expressed covert resistance verbally abusive teachers. Female students reported engaging in internal monologue during which they protested the abuse and reminded the abusive teacher(s) of their right to be treated with respect and dignity. In contrast, most of the male students interviewed engaged in a more aggressive form of covert opposition as they reported silently cursing and thinking about ways they could retaliate against the abusive teacher. Researchers have often pointed to the short and longer term adverse consequences of abuse and neglect on children’s well- being, and motivation and engagement in school (Biglan, Flay, Embry, & Sandler, 2012a, 2012b; Brassard & Fiorvanti, ˜ &Votruba-Drzal, 2011; McEachern et al., 2008). In the present study, most of 2014; Brendgen et al., 2007; Maldonado-Carreno students subjected to teachers’ abusive behaviour reported withdrawing engagement and class participation, and no longer caring about their teachers’ opinion. Some of them preferred to stay home rather than go to school and further endure the abuse. As in previous studies (Brassard & Fiorvanti, 2014; Lansdown et al., 2014; McEachern et al., 2008) this study stresses the crucial role that teachers play in promoting the norms of respectful interaction, fairness and equity in the classroom. Teachers who transgress these norms encouragesimilar norm-transgressions on part of their students. Consequently, the 6th graders in the present study often justified the overt verbal confrontation and in rare cases, physical acting-out behaviour of some of their classroom peers who had constantly been stigmatized. To them such a confrontation was an expression of built-up anger and resentment and an act of self-defence against further abuse and humiliation by teachers who had lost all respect in their eyes. In conclusion, the extreme verbal and physical acting-out behaviours of some students in the classroom may become important indicators of teachers’ emotional/verbal maltreatment in a school environment that fail to respect children views of the reality their experience in the classroom (Brassard & Fiorvanti, 2014; Lansdown et al., 2014). 3.1. Limitations Poor quality of teacher-student relationships and emotional maltreatment by teachers in schools have usually been attributed to overcrowded classrooms and to the overwhelming curriculum that teachers have to cover during the school ˜ & Votruba-Drzal, 2011; O’Connor & McCartney, 2007). Students year (Jerome-Freiberg et al., 2009; Maldonado-Carreno recruited for this qualitative study lived in the Northern periphery of Israel and studied in public schools characterized by large-size classrooms with more than 30 students, an overall poor quality education, and probably, low-quality teachers who may resort to verbal abuse to enforce discipline and manage their classroom. Future studies are suggested to examine the expressions of verbal/emotional maltreatment by teachers as perceived by students from more affluent neighbourhoods and compare them to those by teachers in more deprived neighbourhoods. Another limitation of this study is related to self-selection bias. The students who consented to participate in this study may have done so precisely because they had been the target or witness of verbal abuse by teachers. The selection bias in quantitative research often becomes an asset in qualitative studies that are commonly based on a purposive and informationrich sample that is far from being random. The pervasive experience of emotional/verbal maltreatment by teachers reported by sixth graders studying in different schools and classrooms raises serious concerns that may not be ignored as an artifact of self-selection bias. 4. Conclusion The present study addressed the scarcely covered topic of emotional/verbal abuse by teachers in the classroom from the perspective of elementary school children. By listening to children convey their feelings and reactions to emotional/verbal attacks by teachers this study gives educators and policy makers working in schools a powerful description of children’s real world experience in the classroom. This study reinforces the guidelines included in the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (1989), that views children’s rights to express their views as a necessary condition to achieve its primary goal- the best interests of children. Schools have become the major institution for learning and children spend the majority of their waking hours in schools and classrooms under the care of teachers and educators. Consequently teachers are to provide the children under their care with a safe environment and protect them and thus refrain from any form of abusive or potentially behaviour in the classroom.

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4.1. Recommendations Even though one may assume that the majority of the teachers are committed to serving the best interest of children, that 37.5 percent of the 160 Israeli students originally approached in the five community centres reported having been subjected to or witnessing verbal attacks by teachers in the classroom provides compelling evidence that students’ rights for respect and dignity are being transgressed. This study thus aims at drawing parents, researchers and policy makers’ attention to the fact that verbal abuse by teachers and its devastating consequences may be part of the daily reality that children experience in the classroom. Given the potential or actual harm of verbal maltreatment by teachers and students’ fear of breaking the silence when such maltreatment occurs, it is incumbent upon policy makers, educators, and school administrators concerned with the best interests of children to listen to students articulate in their own words what is happening to them in the classroom. To that effect a child safe framework must be provided so that students may denounce teachers whom they perceive to be verbally and emotionally abusive with the proper disciplinary or legal action and intervention when such allegations have been verified. Child-focused school-based prevention programs targeting emotional/verbal abuse and interpersonal aggression in schools and classrooms and their adverse consequences on children’s development are still missing (Brassard & Fiorvanti, 2014; Jimerson, & Shahroozi, 2014; MacIntyre & Carr, 1999; MacMillan et al., 2009). The design and implementation of such programs are to promote a school culture focused on children’s rights to express their view of the reality they experience at school, and to be treated with respect and dignity while protected from harm, regardless of their scholastic capabilities. The lack of parental empathy for their children’s complaints indicated in the present study, leads to the recommendation to include parents as active participants in emotional/verbal abuse prevention programs. Once informed about the extent of verbal abuse by teachers in classroom and its consequences parents will be more likely to listen to their children and to take action to prevent and reduce teacher abuse. Also recommended is to include emotional/verbal abuse prevention programs in teacher education programs with courses on emotional learning, emphatic listening, and interpersonal communication skills, which have been found missing from Israeli teachers’ training programs. Before employment, various screening procedures are recommended to exclude teachers who are potentially abusive. Once employed, teachers are to abide by a professional code of conduct that sets the boundaries of unethical and unacceptable behaviour when interacting with children (Children Act, 2004; Children Protection Acts, 1993; United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Children, 2013; MCED, 2013). Finally, monthly ongoing projects that engage students, teachers and, to some extent, parents in role playing, video modelling and discussions will allow to further detect and prevent verbal abuse in the classroom. Researchers often hesitate to use the term “abuse” and prefer to use “maltreatment” to refer to teachers’ emotional/verbal abuse in the classroom. This is probably because of the respect researchers have for teachers’ authority and/or the erroneous assumptions that teachers, in their capacity of educators, always serve the best interests of their students and that abuse and neglect occur only in the family. Therefore, the need to find a novel term that encompasses verbal/emotional abusive behaviours by teachers in the classroom. As an ending note, the researcher would like to mention that the findings of this research were reported to the Israeli Children Protection Agency and subsequently to the Ministry of Education in a special task force session in 2012. Despite the media coverage and the Ministry of Education task force’s recommendation to establish a professional code of conduct and sanctions to safeguard children from emotional maltreatment by teachers in the classroom, no action has, so far, been taken. 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