Teachers under stress

Those who enjoy berating the so-called snowflake generation will no doubt have field day with the latest stress figures in schools.

Mental issues are, in the eyes of the some critics, just an excuse peddled by the weak and feeble minded.

Those that proffer those views are talking nonsense.

The evidence of pressures taking their toll in the classroom is mounting year on year.

As we reveal today, teachers across Sunderland took 3,800 days of absence due to stress in the 2016/17 academic year.

That equates to one in 83 teachers now on longterm leave of one month or more for stress and mental health issues. And it’s getting worse. Those figures are up from one in 95 three years ago and 90 last year.

It’s a health issue that has been flagged up on numerous occasions and teaching is bearing the brunt of the damage of work place stress.

A recent survey revealed that three quarters of teachers in the UK have suffered either physically or mentally because of their jobs. The national average was only 62%.

Depression, anxiety and panic attacks were among the conditions cited in the study. It’s a rising problem that should concern us all.

To dismiss the evidence is folly. Teachers are working in the best interests of our children, yet they are clearly not getting the best of support. Exam results are important and targets and performance tables have their place, but they should not be the be all and end all - particularly if they are damaging the very people tasked with educating our youngsters.

The snowflake argument doesn’t wash. But unless something is done, the teaching profession faces meltdown.