Students with problems take the class in hand: "It's asking for difficulties"

"I did not have to deal with physical violence myself," says Stef van der Linden, who teaches social studies to VMBO students. "But the number of times I've been abused has increased in the last two years."

Questions for Problems

He attributes this situation to the introduction of an adapted education, which means that more and more students have behavioral problems. got. "It is about children who used to attend a special education institution and who formed groups of six or seven people in class, who are placed in a huge, full school. of incentives, which causes problems. "

Every year. a little worse, says Van der Linden, who teaches at a secondary school in the Tilburg region. "Yesterday, one of my colleagues was talking to a student and it was not a pleasant conversation.The student reprimanded my colleague for a con that you could not let go of."

On the other side of the border

He spoke to the student and said that she had crossed a line. "Then the student apologized and said that it was not supposed to be, and that it was doing a lot of good, and then you see the child behind the comment, somebody One who has so many problems that you can not blame such a student. "

The fact that there are proportionally more incidents in VMBO schools is due to the fact that students are often more "physical and more daring". That said Liesbeth van der Woud of DUO Education Research & Advice. In collaboration with AD, the office conducted a study on social security in schools and asked more than 1,100 teachers.

Coarse Language, Hard Behavior

It also concerns the level of training of the parents of many VMBO students, he says. Van der Woud. "Children who follow a VMBO base or framework often have low-educated parents who have different values ​​and standards, and I also hear that using crude language and "hard behaviors" is part of the street culture. "

Children do not think: I am going to attack these teachers equally, says Van der Linden, teacher at Vmbo. "They do not know better or can not do otherwise." Management becomes an integral part of our work. We often look more like social workers or social workers than teachers. "

This evolution is worrying because it has not been happening for so long." We certainly did not see it ten years ago, "says Van der Linden." Colleagues who are insulted, students who are they are angry and do not treat other students and teachers in a respectful manner, everyone in education is struggling to do so. "Education fails and" at the expense of teachers. "Van der Linden: "How long will we accept this?" Addressing children or punishing them does not help: they suffer from a disorder or come from a family situation in which the children quarrels are the only way to communicate, sometimes they are not sensitive to the measures taken. " [19659004] This is a problem that must be taken seriously, he says. Liesbeth van der Woud (DUO) believes that teachers facing this problem should be able to express their hearts. "They must understand that they are not the only ones to be the victims." This must come out of the taboo. "

Appropriate Education

The so-called" Appropriate Education "was introduced on August 1, 2014, and places an obligation on schools to a place that needs additional support, so they are less likely to 39, to be sent to special education institutions – a measure that saves money

It is about children with all kinds of problems, From autism to ADHD, to anxiety, depression and severe dyslexia, children with more severe disorders go to special schools.