Why Are We Teaching Students About Violence, But Not Teachers?

By Rob Andress and Beth Andress | Street Safe Self Defence Training Company

For years, Street Safe Self Defence Training Company has been delivering violence prevention and self-defence education in high schools across Ontario. Working in more than 70 Ontario high schools, Street Safe has become Ontario’s largest provider of high school violence prevention and self-defence programs, helping thousands of young women and men understand the reality of violence and how to manage it safely.

Students are learning about:

• Situational awareness.
• Healthy relationships.
• Dating violence prevention.
• Social versus a-social violence.
• Human trafficking awareness.
• Sextortion and digital safety.
• Personal boundaries.
• Threat recognition.
• Violence prevention strategies.

These programs are built around the philosophy that most violence never needed to become physical, a principle explored in our article, High School Self Defence: Why Violence Prevention Matters More Than Fighting.

But while students are receiving this education, one question remains:

Why Are Teachers Expected to Manage Violence Without Training?

Teachers are among the most trusted professionals in Canada. They are educators, mentors, coaches, counselors, and often the first line of support when students experience crisis.

Yet many teachers receive little or no education in:

• School violence prevention.
• Threat assessment awareness.
• Behavioural awareness.
• Student aggression management.
• De-escalation techniques.
• Situational awareness.
• Personal safety.
• Managing emotionally dysregulated students.
• Managing aggressive parents.
• Understanding trauma and escalation.

In most professions where violence is a recognized risk, training is mandatory.

Healthcare workers receive violence prevention training.

Security professionals receive violence prevention training.

Police officers receive violence prevention training.

But teachers are frequently expected to manage violence without understanding how violence develops.

School Violence Is Not Always Random

One of the most important lessons taught by Street Safe Self Defence Training Company is that violence is rarely random.

Violence is often predictable.

Most incidents occurring in schools are forms of social violence—emotionally driven conflicts involving:

• Status.
• Relationships.
• Embarrassment.
• Ego.
• Peer pressure.
• Social media disputes.

Social violence frequently provides warning signs long before physical contact occurs.

These include:

• Changes in voice and language.
• Boundary violations.
• Emotional flooding.
• Target fixation.
• Peer audience effects.
• Escalating body language.

As Rob Andress often says:

“You cannot de-escalate what you never recognized.”

Understanding violence should be considered an essential skill for educators.

Violence Against Teachers Is an Occupational Health and Safety Issue

Across Canada, educators encounter:

• Assaults.
• Threats.
• Biting.
• Kicking.
• Hair pulling.
• Aggressive parents.
• Mental health crises.
• Domestic violence spillover.
• Online threats and harassment.

Yet many incidents go unreported because violence has become normalized.

The effects are not always physical.

Educators can experience:

• Anxiety.
• Burnout.
• Compassion fatigue.
• Hypervigilance.
• Workplace stress injuries.
• PTSD symptoms.

Teacher safety should be viewed through the same occupational health and safety lens applied to healthcare and emergency services.

This is one of the reasons we developed CARE – Clinical Awareness & Response to Escalation for healthcare professionals and TRAACS – Tactical Risk Awareness & Applied Combatives System for by-law officers, security teams, and public safety professionals. Education changes outcomes.

A Message to Ontario’s Teacher Federations

Organizations including:

ETFO – Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario

OSSTF – Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation

OECTA – Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association

AEFO – Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens

have long advocated for educator wellbeing.

The next step should include mandatory education in violence prevention.

Not martial arts.

Not restraint systems.

Not use-of-force programs.

Instead, teachers deserve education in:

Behavioural Awareness Training

Recognizing human behaviour before escalation occurs.

Situational Awareness for Teachers

Understanding environmental safety, classroom positioning, and anomaly recognition.

De-Escalation Training for Educators

Communication skills that reduce conflict and emotional escalation.

Student Aggression Management

Understanding emotional dysregulation and behavioural patterns.

Trauma-Informed Practices

Recognizing how trauma influences behaviour.

Personal Safety for Teachers

Creating safety during violent encounters without relying on strength.

Scenario-Based Training

Preparing educators for real-life situations involving students, parents, and crisis events.

Schools Have Changed

Today’s teachers face challenges that previous generations rarely encountered:

• Cyberbullying.
• Sextortion.
• Dating violence.
• Social media threats.
• Youth mental health crises.
• Aggressive parents.
• Community violence entering schools.
• Emotional dysregulation.

Teachers are no longer simply delivering curriculum.

They are managing increasingly complex human dynamics.

And human dynamics require human-based training.

Why Schools Across Ontario Trust Street Safe Self Defence Training Company

Founded by Rob Andress and Beth Andress, Street Safe Self Defence Training Company is one of Canada’s leaders in:

• Violence prevention training.
• Situational awareness.
• Behavioural awareness.
• Self-defence education.
• Workplace violence prevention.
• Healthcare violence prevention.
• REALTOR® safety.
• Women’s safety training.
• Youth safety programs.

Our work extends beyond schools. Through our Women’s Violence Prevention Programs, Healthcare CARE Training, TRAACS Certification, and Street Safe for Agents REALTOR® Safety Programs, we help professionals across Canada understand and prevent violence before it becomes physical.

Through programs delivered in over 70 Ontario high schools, Street Safe has become the largest provider of high school violence prevention education in Ontario.

Street Safe teaches a philosophy based on one simple belief:

Most violence never needed to become physical.

Understanding violence is more important than fighting violence.

Because awareness creates opportunities.

Recognition creates options.

And prevention saves lives.

The Future of Teacher Safety

If schools believe students deserve education about violence, then educators deserve that same understanding.

Teacher safety is not a discipline issue.

Teacher safety is not a staffing issue.

Teacher safety is an occupational health and safety issue.

And perhaps the most important question Ontario’s educational leaders should ask is:

If we are teaching students how to recognize and prevent violence…

Why are we not teaching the people responsible for protecting and guiding them?

About Street Safe Self Defence Training Company

Street Safe Self Defence Training Company, founded by Rob Andress and Beth Andress, is Ontario’s largest provider of high school violence prevention and self-defence education and one of Canada’s leaders in reality-based violence prevention. We provide training to schools, healthcare organizations, municipalities, corporations, security teams, and real estate professionals throughout Canada.

Stop the Before, so the After Never Happens.

Related Articles

➜ High School Self Defence: Why Violence Prevention Matters More Than Fighting

➜ Micro Expressions: Why Understanding Human Behaviour Matters

➜ Why Healthcare Needs Street Safe Self Defence Training Company

➜ TRAACS Training: Why By-Law Officers and Security Professionals Need More Than Use-of-Force Training

➜ Street Safe for Agents – REALTOR® Safety Programs

• Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety

  https://www.ccohs.ca

• Ontario Ministry of Education

  https://www.ontario.ca/page/ministry-education

• Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario

  https://www.etfo.ca

• Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation

  https://www.osstf.on.ca

• Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association

  https://www.catholicteachers.ca