Educational Assistants: First Responders in the School System

It’s no secret I have an affinity for educational assistants.

It’s because my first job was working in a group home with preteen and teen boys all of whom had significant developmental disorders and were unpredictability violent.

These were kids who due to their behavior could not be served in the community.

Even the school they attended was on the grounds of the treatment centre. Even some couldn’t go there.

That was the 1980s.

Then there was a push towards deinstitutionalization, to serve these same kids in community settings.

Of course there was the promise of more money to assure appropriate supports both in their residences as well as in public schools.

Fast forward to now and kids that we were serving in quite contained settings with mutiple childcare staff are now being seen in the public school system with far less supports than we provided in the 80s.

To add, I was earning far more on an equivalent basis than educational assistants are today. I was able to support myself then. One cannot do so today.

So all this to say that I understand and appreciate the role educational assistants play.

They enable these very challenging students to remain in the public system, learn, and also keep the environment safe for all students.

They demand our respect and gratitude.

This government provides neither.

Indeed, this government vilifies and demeans these valiant, caring, dedicated and talented workers who are mostly women.

I recognize them as like the firefighters in school settings, the first responders to a troubled youth, the first to put themselves in harms way to enable the education of all students.

Many these days actually wear Kevlar protection, something unknown to the public to help keep themselves safe in the violent situations they encounter.

So yes, I have an affinity for these workers.

To me, they are heros in education.

They deserve a living wage.

Without them there is no education for any child.

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I am Gary Direnfeld and I am a social worker. Check out all my services and then call me if you need help with a personal issue, mental health concern, child behavior or relationship, divorce or separation issue or even help growing your practice. I am available in person and by video conferencing.

Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW

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Gary Direnfeld is a social worker. Courts in Ontario, Canada, consider him an expert in social work, marital and family therapy, child development, parent-child relations and custody and access matters. Gary is the host of the TV reality show, Newlywed, Nearly Dead, former parenting columnist for the Hamilton Spectator and author of Marriage Rescue: Overcoming the ten deadly sins in failing relationships. Gary maintains a private practice in Georgina Ontario, providing a range of services for people in distress. He speaks at conferences and workshops throughout North America. He consults to mental health professionals as well as to mediators and collaborative law professionals about good practice as well as building their practice.