The Teacher Support Network claims that it has dealt with more than 5,382 conflict-related cases, double the number concerning pupil misbehaviour.

Cases of stress, anxiety and depression accounted for the highest number of calls with the largest single group of callers being newly-qualified teachers.

What can be done to reduce stress and conflict for teachers? Send us your comments and experiences.

The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received.

This debate is now closed. Read your comments below.

It seems that teachers are not given the benefit of the doubt anymore Maliha, Brunei

I am also in the process of switching from one school to another and the reason is lack of support from management for implementing any kind of rules for the students. It seems that teachers are not given the benefit of the doubt anymore. I believe the lack of support from my boss is the direct result of parents not wanting to involve themselves in their children's lives and putting extra pressure on the school in case something does go wrong. The message seems to be "he's your headache now".
Maliha, Brunei

Look, I think that all teachers should just chill! If they don't get on they stay out of each others way. Easy as that! No need to stress over something you don't have too, so chill teachers and concentrate on educating us!
Amira, Kingsbury, London

Cameras should be installed in the classroom so that parents can view student behaviour and see for themselves the rubbish that teachers must endure these days. I dare say that most parents would be shocked at their child's behaviour as most are in denial about it. Teachers become teachers because they enjoy teaching. They should not have to spend the bulk of their time dealing with behaviour issues.
Kathy, Leeds, UK

There will always be difficult people. But today the fear culture and pressures at work make them much harder to tolerate, but also much harder to get rid of.
Graham, UK

It was the constant criticism and complete lack of support from his management that made him leave Heather, Manchester, UK

My husband left his job as a maths teacher last summer. Yes, the kids' behaviour was dreadful and the workload ridiculous, but it was the constant criticism and complete lack of support from his management that made him leave. He has a colleague who works in the Geography department at the same school who is well supported by his management and, despite the other hassles, enjoys his job. The difference? The head of Geography does her best to protect her staff from ridiculous government demands and lets them get on with their jobs, rather than getting stressed out about the 101 targets and feeding the pressure down on to her staff.
Heather, Manchester, UK

I work in a secondary school part-time as classroom assistant before I do a teaching course. The only thing that does worry me about going into teaching is the abuse from the students. I have seen colleagues upset and stressed because of what has been said to them. Teachers say that they don't go to work to put up with bad attitudes, and it is very true, but with certain students it is never going to stop. More support in the classrooms for teachers is what is needed.
Scott, Middlesbrough, England

My friend, a teacher in a school in Oxford, has in recent weeks disarmed an aggressive 16 year old who was threatening another pupil with a Stanley knife (acquiring a deep hand wound that needed over 30 stitches in the process), dealt with the police over a significant drugs find on school premises, been punched, kicked and even bitten by an angry parent (only 6 stitches and a Tetanus jab this time), and had acid poured on his car whilst parked at school. All this, and a 60 hour week into the bargain. Would any of the armchair critics who say teachers have no more stress than themselves care to swap roles for a term or two?
John, England

Teaching does attract more than its fair share of bullies AT, London

I worked in industry before attempting to be a teacher - I could not believe the poor levels of upper management in schools and the lack of practical resources and support. Like many other teachers, my reason for going in each day was the sense of achievement that came about from working with and teaching young children - they are brilliant - and that is the only regret I have about leaving teaching. Good luck to the other teachers there still doing the job. Teaching does attract more than its fair share of bullies and they are not good for our classrooms or children.
AT, London

I currently work in a school in the office. The abuse that we have to put up with from parents is nothing compared to the abuse the teachers have to put up with from the kids, both mental and physical, but what can you do? Not a lot. You can't just expel a child nowadays. I wouldn't be a teacher for anything and I don't intend on staying working in a school for long.
Lianne, Cannock, UK

I'm a husband of a primary school teacher, and both myself and other partners can't believe the amount of pressure our partners are under. Working until midnight is a regular occurrence, weekends are non-existent. Our partners do the same amount of admin, prep and follow-up work as the rest of us in the 'real-world' do, then begin a full teaching day. Nobody goes into the industry thinking it's the easy option. People who complain that teachers are whingers obviously have no concept of the job at all. It's not about the money, it's about work/life balance.
Des Lane, Reading, UK

I was a teacher in the UK for 5 years. This was a job I had always wanted, but a combination of over-zealous management, unruly teenagers, unsupportive parents, a constantly changing National Curriculum and an ethos based only on improving exam results, often at the cost of actually caring for the problems that some children actually have, led me to go on stress-leave in February of 2001. On my GP's advice, I left on medical grounds in March of 2000, and have since taught ESL at a South Korean university between March of 2001 and February of 2003. What am I doing now? Training to become a minister of religion. I don't think it will be any less stressful, the pay will certainly not be as good, but that way, I know that I will actually be able to affect people's life for good, and the majority of them might actually appreciate what I am trying to achieve.
Disappointed ex-UK teacher, Calgary, Canada (ex UK)

Anyone who thinks teachers have it easy is sadly mistaken. In many cases it depends on the school they teach at. We have a grammar school teacher who lives here and her total work hours are in excess of 65 a week. Leaves at 8am, back at 4 to 5pm, hour for dinner then often marking and preparing for 2 to 3 hours every evening. Always works a full day at the weekend. All this for �24 k a year.
T. Newman, Bournemouth

Awkward colleagues and conflicts are just the icing on the cake Steve Jaques, Aylesbury

I am an IT manager in a school, and so exist slightly outside a teacher's realm. I am very well placed to make a balanced judgement, and I say no way would I be a teacher. The things they put up with are phenomenal. Abusive, unruly students, petty obstructions, HUGE workloads, poor management, fairly low pay, bureaucracy and narrow mindedness. The list is massive. On top of all this, they have to plan lessons, do massive amounts of admin. Oh, it just goes on and on. Awkward colleagues and conflicts are just the icing on the cake.
Steve Jaques, Aylesbury

Do teachers think this only happens to them? This is normal for any work place where employers do not train their managers in man-management and do not have an active personnel department. The only difference is that teachers have a support organisation to draw attention to the problems. I work for a software company and bullying/conflict goes on all the time. The advice for everyone is the same. Document what is happening, if you can prove it then demand action and if you can't prove it but it's unbearable, take a decision to leave and go elsewhere.
Kathy, UK

Being a part time non-teaching member of staff, I see things in classrooms that teachers shouldn't have to put up with. This is not a case of staff members against staff members, this is a case of pupils against staff and how teachers have to deal with pupils behaviour within lessons. This is something that should be looked at.
Andrew Clarke, Devizes

Teachers need to stop being so precious and get on with the job in hand BP, UK

As someone who has worked in schools for 9 years I heartily tired of hearing the teachers mantra "Thank goodness it is half-term next week I am so tired" Teachers need to stop being so precious and get on with the job in hand. Alternatively step out or their closeted world into the "real world".
BP, UK

They need to put up or shut up. Teachers get enough holiday to recover from the stresses of going to work, unlike the rest of us.
Chris Godfrey, UK

Chris Godfrey: When you were at school how did you think your books got marked? By magic? No. That was a teacher giving up their personal time - including holidays - to make sure all the books were marked in time. And all those boring lessons that you sat through were planned by a teacher in their own time - including holidays. You want to talk about stresses at work? You try controlling a rabble of 20+ teenagers with nothing more than a stern look and the threat of a detention. That's right; NO corporal punishment anymore. NO shouting or verbal abuse. NO confiscation. Can't even give a detention without completing lots of forms. So what will YOU do with a child that won't work and may even physically assault you? You should be grateful for the job teachers do because it is not a easy as it looks. Show some respect!
Anon, UK

In response to Chris Godfrey. I am putting up, and I had 'shut up' until I saw his comment. As a late entrant into teaching after working in two other fields with their own set of stresses, I can say that teaching is in many ways the more stressful, more so than I expected. However, I view it as a vocation and I put up with the pressures and do what I can to cope. The holidays ARE a bonus, and due recompense for the very intense time during term. I'm not asking for extra pay or sympathy - but certainly for less of Mr Godfrey's vitriol.
Jon, London, UK

There's nothing like a teacher - and I know, I am one - for saying they're being 'bullied' when it's simply a matter of being asked to do their job properly. Senior managers in schools are under increasing pressure to improve results, and can no longer tolerate mediocre performance. If more teachers realised that they're being paid to do the best job they can, they might moan a bit less.
Sue, Manchester

There's more scope for bullying in a regimented organisation than in one with a more relaxed attitude to inter-personnel working. In that respect teaching is no different from the police, armed services, prison service, civil service, banks, shops, factories, etc. Where teaching differs from all the others is in dealing with children and persuading them to do things they're often reluctant to do. Any parent knows how difficult that can be with one child but to have to do so every day with 20+ children of the same age and at the same time is more of a challenge nowadays than it used to be because support for teachers to be able to teach continually decreases while freedom from any form of discipline or active encouragement increases.
JohnM, LyneMeads, UK

Far too much social care is being passed to teachers who have to act more as therapists/punch bags than anything else. Put more long term responsibility back to the home / guardian and shift the blame away from teachers, and let them get on with their job.
Chris W, Nr Brighton

For all those that feel teachers should stop moaning - let me remind them that most teachers spend most of their evenings, weekends and holidays doing marking and planning. If the hours are actually added up throughout the year, most teachers are on less than basic rate pay. The problem is not with teaching, it is with a society that expects many rights, but does not accept any responsibilities.
Mark Venton, West Mids

Teachers have been constantly harassed by government interventions and a deluge of externally imposed requirements that have put them under immense pressure. Now the government is trying to usher in another plethora of strategies to sort out the mess that the state was responsible for creating in the first place. No wonder so many teachers are exhausted and bewildered!
Denzil, Devon

Stress - half the people who claim they are stressed don't know the meaning of the word. This is just another example of modern society being unable to cope without being mollycoddled or receiving therapy. We are all extremely busy - but the rest of us just get on with it!
SH, UK

Despite the loud calls for it, when teachers had the chance to vote in the autumn against the stress and the extra paperwork and SATS they have to deal with, only about 40% of the NUT members bothered to vote - not enough to call a strike or take any action of any kind.
Brendan, UK

Too much is expected of us in terms of workload Rob, Yorks, UK

As a teacher who previously worked in banking I can say with some authority that teaching is significantly harder with many more stresses. Too much is expected of us in terms of workload and this inevitably leads to frayed tempers. Furthermore, If the holidays are such a bonus, why do we face an acute shortage of teachers?
Rob, Yorks, UK

There are stresses and conflicts in all jobs. The only difference is that most of us deal with it as best we can. If you don't like it, get another job.
Dave, Sheffield

It's not just teachers who must suffer bullying and conflict at work. It happens in every industry. Unfortunately, many of us do not have the support of unions because our employers do not recognise them. If we take the stress route and take time off work with a doctor's note, life is made even more difficult and has led to many of my friends being made redundant over the years.
Sarah, Chester, UK

We have developed into a nation of bullies with violence in politics, business, sport, most of the professions and even in social services and hospitals so until we change our society into a more caring one, the effects in our schools will continue to accelerate.
Raymond Rudaizky, London, UK

If teachers are being bullied by members of their own profession, one wonders what chance their charges have?
Gary Liggett, Lancashire, UK