site.btaViolence Against Teachers Up by 25%, Against Children - by 35% - Teachers' Trade Union Leader

Violence against teachers has increased by 25 % and by 35% against children, Yanka Takeva, head of the Bulgarian Union of Teachers with the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), told BTA here on Tuesday. She participated in a round table on children's health, organized by the Bulgarian Red Cross. 

According to Takeva, this research was carried out two years ago by a polling agency commissioned by the Ministry of Education and Science, but the data is not officially presented.

Violence against teachers is perpetrated by parents and other entities who want to have the upper hand in school, as well as by students. Violence against children and students is perpetrated by parents, Takeva added. It is a very complex and difficult process to overcome because once the child does not have support and care and feels the lack of family, it means they have some internal struggle and congnitive and behavioural disruptions, she added. 

According to Takeva, data from the PISA survey, among other things, show that 28% of Bulgarian children suffer from anxiety, 24% live with the feeling that they do not have parental support, and 51% of Bulgarian students live with one parent. According to her, all this accumulates and negatively impacts children's behaviour and their attitude towards the world, and so they become violent, satisfy their anxiety by turning to drugs, alcohol or other destructive behaviours, and then become targets of the police.

Children should be in school, they should be looked after by parents, Takeva added. Order must be brought into the whole country, there must be rules, legal provisions must be respected, order must be put in the care of children by the family, the family must be strengthened, there must be a social environment and social rules that serve as an example for the younger generation.

"Young people emulate the powerful of the day and there is nothing to be angry about, perhaps the times are like this, but every country should build on tradition and then build new things," Takeva added.

The discussion was attended by representatives of various ministries, institutions, UNICEF, among others.