Evaluation of Secondary School Teachers’ Stance to Verbal Abuse on Children

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate the secondary school teachers’ attitudes about verbal abuse and make suggestions about the issue in order to raise awareness. The population of the research, conducted using the screening method, was secondary state school teachers in the city of Duzce. The study’s sample consists of 255 male and 265 female teachers in the city of Duzce’s central district state schools. Data collection was carried out using a personal information form and the Questionnaire on the Verbal Abuse of Children developed by researchers. This study found that as class sizes increase, so does the child-abuse potential of teachers. Data show that teachers’ abuse-potential scores do not vary significantly by gender or by tenure in office. Therefore, in training and consultation sessions with teachers, precautionary work should be done, and the issue should also be discussed from the perspective of child abuse. Keywords: school, verbal abuse, education, teacher, secondary school