The Current Situation, Characteristics, and Countermeasures of the Verbal Abuse to Students by Elementary School Teachers - An Empirical Study of Four Provinces and Cities in China

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mary Man

The negative impact of verbal abuse by elementary school teachers is examined through an empirical study of 416 students from four provinces and cities in China. The occurrence rate is reported as relatively low, yet verbal abuse still produces psychological trauma, reflected in reduced learning efficacy frustration, diminished self-confidence, and impaired peer relationships. Poor academic performance is identified as the main trigger, with stronger vulnerability among boys. Students exposed to verbal abuse are also more likely to be bullied at school.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background and policy gaps in China

Teacher-student dignity and relationship

Literature Review

Definitions of Verbal Abuse

Forms of Verbal Abuse

The Current Situation, Characteristics, and Countermeasures of the Verbal Abuse to Students by Elementary School Teachers: An Empirical Study of Four Provinces and Cities in China Qiran Wang, Yang Li Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China | Abstract. The negative impact of the verbal abuse on student by the elementary school teachers is a big issue. A total of 416 students from four provinces and cities in China were enrolled in this study. We found that the occurrence rate of the verbal abuse by elementary school teachers was not high, whereas it still caused psychological trauma to students once happened by manifesting as the frustration of learning efficacy, self-confidence and interrelationship. Regarding the causes, student’spoor academic performance was the major reason, and it was significantly related to students’ gender, i.e., male students who had poor academic performance were far more vulnerable to be verbally abused by their teachers. Further, the study also found that students who were verbally abused by teachers were more easily bullied at school. The findings suggest that the government and schools should take joint measures to clarify the specific boundaries of teachers’ verbal punishment to students and standardize their verbal behavior to get teachers respect and care for students and create a healthy learning environment.
Best Evid Chin Edu 2020; 6(1): 739-752.
Doi: [10.15354/bece.20.ar060](10.15354/bece.20.ar060). | | --- | | How to Cite: Wang, Q., & Li, Y. (2020) The current situation, characteristics, and countermeasures of the verbal abuse to students by elementary school teachers: An empirical study offour provinces and cities in China. Best Evidence in Chinese Education, 6(1): 739-752. | Keywords: Elementary School Teachers; Verbal Abuse; Current Situation; Characteristics. About the Author: Qiran Wang, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China. Email: [wangqiran1917@163.com](wangqiran1917@163.com). Correspondence to: Yang Li, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China. Email: [201821010005@mail.bnu.edu.cn](201821010005@mail.bnu.edu.cn). Funding: Research on the governance of school bullying (17JYA003); A study on the mechanism of bullying and violence in elementary and middle school in Beijing (AACA17015); Teacher verbal abuse on the primary through high school students (1812217). This work was also supported by the CSC scholarship (201906040125). Conflict of Interests: None. © 2020 Insights Publisher. All rights reserved. Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Crea tive Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by](http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by)nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed by the Insights Publisher. Introduction THE basic principle for educators is to respect and nurture students and they should follow it as their professional accomplishment. With the prohibition of both formal and informal corporal punishment in elementary and middle schools, verbal abuse is becoming the main conduit for teachers’ harmful behavior towards students in China. Other countries had established child protection laws, such as the Australian Children Protection Act, the UK Children Act, the US Dignity in Schools Campaign, and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and explicitly prohibit teachers from conducting verbal abuse. The aim of these guidelines was to establish a harmonious and safe school culture to respect the dignity of students, protect them from degrading and punitive measures, provide a guiding framework enabling teachers to listen to the their views, and develop specific procedures to suspend harmful behavior or allow them to appeal. However, in China, few policies,

FAQs

How common is verbal abuse by elementary school teachers in the study?

The study reports that the occurrence rate of verbal abuse by elementary school teachers is not high. However, harmful effects still arise when it happens.

What factors are identified as major causes of verbal abuse?

Poor academic performance is described as the major reason. The study also finds a significant relation to students’ gender, with male students who have poor academic performance more vulnerable to verbal abuse.

What impacts does teachers’ verbal abuse have on students?

Once verbal abuse occurs, it causes psychological trauma. It manifests through frustration in learning efficacy, reduced self-confidence, and weakened interrelationships, and affected students are more easily bullied at school.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mary Man