Toronto educational assistant, Robin Teal, suffered a severe concussion while monitoring school recess, and suddenly became very aware of the variety of dangers facing teachers. The article provided by CTV News highlights the dangers teachers face in school, how these dangers go unnoticed and the lack of remedies that are offered in support of victims. Please visit the article (based on studies) for further information: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/how-concussions-became-a-significant-risk-for-workplace-injury-among-teachers-1.4794602
Teachers have started coming forward, declaring that there is danger in recess, and not only in organized sport activities. To try and prevent further injury, teachers have begun pushing for there to be specific places designated to sports so that teachers (and others) can keep a safe distance from the activities. Teal was hit in the head with a football while monitoring recess and has since had very severe symptoms, and is having an increasingly difficult time recovering due to her working conditions.
The policy problem at hand is that the safety concerns aren’t being properly addressed and workplace conditions can be improved to promote an easier recovery. Prominent symptoms of concussions include nausea, headaches, and dizziness, which are often enhanced by the symptom of sensitivity to light and sound. Being a teacher requires a lot of active work – students are dependent on the teachers’ ability to perform – so recovering from a concussion as a teacher proves extra difficult. Teachers often work in rooms with fluorescent lighting, and need to teach around 25 high-energy kids. This high stress and active environment does not promote a healthy recovery, and can create further problems for the teacher by not allowing a proper recovery.
Since the risk for injury is so high for teachers, the option to fix working conditions is one that should be explored. Fluorescent lighting is known to create headaches, and should not be encouraged in any workplace. Since the probability of injury is high, fluorescent lighting should absolutely not be an option in classrooms. As a remedy, perhaps more yellow lighting would be beneficial and should be replaced in all classrooms. More strict areas should be placed in recess time to try and prevent further injuries. Management should encourage these changes, as it would demonstrate that they care about their employees’ safety and comfort. Additionally, promoting healthy recovery would allow the teacher to recover faster, and thus management would not have to pay for a replacement (in addition to the salary of the teacher on leave) for a prolonged period of time. A minimum specific amount of time off (sick leave) should be enforced on teachers who sustained a head injury, even minor ones, to ensure that they are taking the proper methods to fully recover, those who sustained more severe head injuries would take more time off. It is my thinking that teachers would be in favour of this policy change as it shows that they’re valued, would also decrease the risk of further injury, and would all around improve the conditions of the workplace. Management and government, however, might have a hard time with accepting the decision of changing lighting in the schools due to cost, but the shift from fluorescent lighting will be a beneficial change in the long-run given that so much time is spent in the classroom and since it is known that they encourage headaches, measures should be taken to remedy that. Since the dangers of being a teacher are known, they should try and have proposed remedies in case they occur.
Jessica Brender's Blog 
Hi Jessica,
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog post! This is a really interesting topic to bring up, considering teachers are often assumed to have jobs with little risk of injury. I would personally be quite fearful of monitoring recess, where balls are flying and kids are running around. There are definitely huge risks for injury, and clearly a lot of teachers have suffered from injuries caused by them. If these safety issues are not being addressed – then we indeed have a problem. As mentioned in the module on workplace safety and injury, the right to refuse unsafe work is rarely used by workers.
However, this is a tricky situation due to the fact that parents make a valid rebuttal to restricting recess activities that may pose a risk of injury to monitoring teachers. One principal in the US, Mark S. Johnson, banned vigorous recess games such as tag and dodgeball (Cowan, 2007). Balls were essentially controlled substances at his school (2007). What resulted was a surge of national campaigns that were against activity restrictions. Do you think there is a way of pleasing both parents and teachers in this situation? What policy would you suggest?
REFERENCES
Cowan, A. L. (2007, December 14). School Recess Gets Gentler, and the Adults Are Dismayed. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/education/14recess.html
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Hi Yasmin,
I’m glad you enjoyed my post! You raise a really interesting point about the restrictions of recess activities and how parents weren’t happy with that decision. Although it would be hard to navigate (since enforcing safe zones may be difficult on behalf of the school administration), I think safe zones for teachers to be in while students do their activities is ultimately the best option to explore. Safe zones should limit teacher injuries as well as allow students to enjoy the recess they want (and deserve) after spending hours in class. I think that this would please both parents and teachers because it proposes solutions to the teachers and shows that their safety is a priority while allowing the parents children to enjoy their time (of course, the teachers would be in a safe distance to protect themselves, but not far enough that they would not be able to act should a child get injured). I think it is a shame that the option to refuse to work in unsafe situations is often not taken, mostly due to the fact that management tends to disapprove of this decision, but hopefully this new policy would increase worker safety and promote a more positive working environment.
What do you think?
Best,
Jessica
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Hi Jessica,
This was a very enlightening topic! I really liked how well you explained options to accommodate concussion-like systems, as well as increase the safety of staff and students, alike. Should greater accommodations be placed for teachers because of their heightened responsibility in schools? Concussions are a serious matter and being responsible for many children in such a fast-paced environment can hinder the recovery process, especially when taking time off is far from being an option. Amidst the current Ontario-wide teachers’ union strikes, perhaps negotiation on multiple levels, including health and work safety, will ensure changes will be made. Teachers are looking for their share of rights in where they work, and the right to a safe work environment should be maintained regardless of unanticipated flying objects.
Thanks for a great post!
Julianne
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Hi Julianne,
Thank you for your response!
I absolutely agree that teachers have a right to a safe work environment regardless of the inability to anticipate what might happen on the playground! I really think that since more cases, such as this one are coming to light, that the proper measures should be taken to prevent and ensure worker’s safety. I think that greater accommodations should be granted to promote a smoother recovery. Should anyone sustain a head injury, I think that they should absolutely go on leave for at least a week, to be able to gauge how symptoms develop. Head injuries are very serious but are very complex to understand and properly treat since we can’t physically see them like we can a broken ankle. If a teacher were to sustain a head injury on school grounds, I think it should be a policy that they get leave with pay to make sure that teachers aren’t scared to prioritize their health and recovery.
Best,
Jessica
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Hi Jessica,
I enjoyed reading your post and found it very interesting! I didn’t think of teachers as a group of people who could easily get hurt physically from work before. Your post has made me realized schools should address safety concerns from the teachers adequately by making new arrangements in their workplace conditions. I believe more strict areas should be placed in recess time to minimize the risk for teachers being hit by flying balls and running kids in the first place. Also, as Ridenour (1997) suggests, “most elementary school playgrounds have been installed on unsafe hard surface materials, and many had equipment which does not meet the current playground guidelines.” It is, therefore, necessary for schools to follow the safety protocols during the construction of playgrounds.
I agree with you that schools should provide teachers who got hurt during work with enough time off work and an easier way of recovery after coming back to school, such as teaching under yellow lightning instead of the fluorescent lighting, which creates headaches. However, these are all after-thoughts. I think teachers’ safety could be more assured in the first place. Ridenour (1997) points out that recess is frequently supervised by “classroom teachers with limited preparation in physical education.” I think it would be better if this responsibility is assigned to more qualified elementary physical education teachers. Do you think this will be a good policy? And what do you think of it?
Great post!
Liang
References:
Ridenour, Marcella V. “Elementary School Playgrounds: Safe Play Areas or Inherent Dangers.” Perceptual and Motor Skills, vol. 64, no. 2, Apr. 1987, pp. 447–451, doi:10.2466/pms.1987.64.2.447.
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Hi Liang,
Thank you for your feedback! I didn’t know that there were specific playground regulations, and I absolutely agree that they should be followed. Any school that does not follow these regulations should not be allowed to hold recess on these surfaces until they are fixed and up to code. If schools are deliberately disobeying safety protocols, this brings up even greater issues and ones that must be addressed immediately. This would be proposing issues to teachers, students, and the school, because should anyone get injured and decide to press charges, the school could immediately be found responsible for neglecting to keep their property safe, so it would be in their best interest to make sure that they are looking after their employees and students safety.
The point that you brought up about having teachers who are more qualified in physical sport be the ones who survey recess is an interesting one, and one that I considered in writing my blog post. However, I don’t believe that this would be the most effective way to go about this since even in gym class (the teachers who are perhaps most qualified for this role) get injured. I don’t think that it is out of lack of qualification to survey students in physical activity, but rather children might not think about how dangerous their actions might be when they are having fun with their fellow classmates. Ultimately, I think that enforcing very clear zones of play would be the best way to prevent workplace injury.
Best,
Jessica
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Hey Jessica!
I think this a very interesting topic. I personally had never really thought of this before so I found it very interesting to read. This is a very important subject, as teachers should not be feeling as though their working environment is causing more discomfort, as well as leading them to injury. I do agree with you and think that changing the lights would work. As to the cost issue that you brought up, I think eventually the cost of replacing teachers and paying for medical services due to injuries that teachers are facing would also add up. I think it is also important that teachers feel excited going to work and feel as though they are safe while teaching. If they don’t feel safe then it will reflect onto the students and it will create a negative environment.
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Hi Meredith,
I am glad to hear that you agree with my proposal for changing the lights! I think that changing the lights will ultimately make going to work more enjoyable as (even if they don’t have a concussion) the chances of migraines would be lower, and would create a more enjoyable workplace. Showing the teachers that we care would increase employee morale, and happy employees make for a well-functioning system. The education system is dependent on the teacher’s ability to deliver, so we should ensure that they are as comfortable and cared for as possible in their work, after all, they are forming the minds of the future!
Best,
Jessica
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