La violencia de alumnos hacia maestros en escuelas secundarias de Colima, México

This article discusses the experiences of secondary school teachers who have suffered any kind of violence from their students during their teaching career. Through 25 in-depth interviews, carried out in various municipalities of the state of Colima, it was possible to gather evidence on the ways in which teachers from public and private schools experienced physical and verbal violence against them, as well as other attitudes and acts such as: harassment, defiance of authority, aggression against their person or property, and questioning when enforcing discipline and of institutional rules. Teachers say that aggressive acts have risen considerably in the last few years. Verbal violence is the most common kind, but there were also documented cases of a physical nature, and as time has gone on they have suffered from a larger number of criminal acts. The situations they described included daily discomfort in their jobs, problems while teaching and keeping control of the classroom, difficulties in understanding the attitudes of the teenagers, incapability of reaction during conflictive situations, and a lack of strategies, as well as a lack of pedagogical resources and institutional support to deal with this situation.