Teachers ‘at breaking point’ as violence, trauma surge in schools

Barbados’ teachers are being pushed to their limits by a surge in student violence and indiscipline, with mental health experts warning that without urgent, systemic support, many educators could buckle under the strain.

As schools grapple with escalating behavioural crises, calls are mounting for a national overhaul of how teacher wellbeing and student discipline are managed.

Registered counselling psychologist and consultant Dr Nicole Lynch described teaching as “inherently stressful”—even without the added strain of classroom disruption and aggression.

“Teaching is very demanding and inherently stressful. And I speak from experience,” she said. “That was perhaps one of the most stressful years of my life. I saw it in my mental health. I saw it in my physical health. It was stressful.”

She added: “You have over 20 students under your care—not just for academics, but for safety, structure, and emotional wellbeing. Then you go home to your own family, your own responsibilities, and carry a mental load with you constantly. There’s often a lack of recognition of just how taxing it is.”

Dr Lynch was speaking at the start of a two-day workshop hosted at the Barbados Water Authority’s conference room in The Pine. The workshop, Managing Behaviour in Schools: A Positive Behaviour Management Approach, focuses primarily on equipping special educators with evidence-based tools to prevent and respond to student misbehaviour. But Dr Lynch was emphatic that teacher wellbeing must be part of the national conversation on school discipline.

“Before we talk about fixing the children, we need to start by supporting the people trying to teach them. This job is hard to do on your own,” she said. “We need communities where educators themselves feel cared for.”

Lynch and a fellow mental health professional have launched educator wellness workshops to help teachers reconnect, reflect, and access practical tools for emotional regulation and stress management.

Her comments come as Barbados continues to wrestle with worsening school indiscipline. Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) President Rudy Lovell has described some schools as “war zones”, citing mounting reports of student violence and aggression and student-on-teacher attacks.

Lovell has welcomed the Ministry of Education’s recent decision to enforce Section 64 of the Education Act, which outlines grounds for suspension and expulsion. But he stressed that enforcement alone was not enough. He urged authorities to invest in dedicated rehabilitation facilities for suspended students, warning that without meaningful intervention, these children risk being absorbed into negative influences outside the classroom.

Dr Lynch agreed that a long-term, structured, school-wide strategy—not isolated training sessions or disciplinary crackdowns—was the only viable solution to the escalating crisis.

“This is not a teacher intervention. This is a school-wide and community-based intervention. Too often, we put the burden on individual teachers, and that’s neither fair nor effective.”

She outlined a three-tier model that schools can adopt:

– Universal interventions: All students should be taught clear expectations, with the entire school—teachers, office staff, security, cleaners—aligned on behavioural standards. Rules should be explicitly taught across various contexts, and consequences should be consistent, fair, and respectful.

– Targeted small-group support: Students who struggle despite general classroom management should receive more personalised support through small-group sessions focused on anger management, grief counselling, or emotional regulation skills.

“There’s a lot of grief in our communities that contributes to what we’re seeing. We need school-based and community-based mentorship programmes where students have consistent adult support,” she said.

– Intensive individualised intervention: Some children, Lynch stressed, have deeper needs that require referrals to professionals such as psychologists, psychiatrists, and probation officers.

“These are the children who need everything—the school-wide support, the small-group help, and specialised external care,” she added.

Dr Lynch noted that behavioural problems are often rooted in deeper psychological trauma. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, schools around the world have reported spikes in “externalising behaviours” such as aggression and defiance.

“We’re outside, but have we dealt with what’s happening inside?” she asked. “There’s been a global increase in anxiety and depression in children and adolescents. Much of what we’re seeing in schools may be responses to unaddressed trauma.”

She stressed that recognising trauma does not mean excusing harmful behaviour, but it can help educators develop more effective strategies for prevention and support.

“Regulating behaviour isn’t a one-man show—it requires systems. Calmer schools come from intentional planning and consistent school-wide practices.”

Dr Lynch and her team are currently supporting schools in developing this tiered framework. The goal, she said, is to make behavioural and teacher-support interventions the norm—not the exception.

“The hope is to continue this work—to make it not just a workshop, but a way of doing school in Barbados,” she said.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb