New report brings together leading education, safeguarding, child wellbeing, public health experts, those with lived experience and new research, and sets out recommendations for action
Words Matter has published a new report following an expert-led discussion at the House of Commons earlier this month on the Impact and Prevention of Childhood Verbal Abuse in Education. It calls for greater action to prevent childhood verbal abuse in education and strengthen positive communication and relationships across schools.
The discussion, chaired by Lord Jim Knight and sponsored by Jess Asato MP, brought together more than 80 policymakers, education leaders, safeguarding professionals, researchers, clinicians and child development and mental health experts. It came at a significant moment for recognition of the issue, with childhood verbal abuse explicitly referenced for the first time in Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2026.
Speakers included Leora Cruddas CBE, Founding CEO of the Confederation of School Trusts; Professor Vivian Hill, Programme Director of the UCL Institute of Education Doctorate in Child, Adolescent and Educational Psychology; Professor Karen Hughes, Professor of Public Health at Public Health Wales and Expert Advisor to WHO; Delyth Lynch, Director of Safeguarding at Wellington College; Pete Wharmby, former teacher, autistic and ADHD advocate and author; and Paddy Crump, mental health campaigner and Words Matter Youth Advisory Board member; and Jessica Bondy, Founder of Words Matter.
Two in five (41%) children in the UK experience verbal abuse by adults, with more than half experiencing it weekly and one in ten daily. It can have profound and lasting consequences for children’s mental and physical health and development. Childhood verbal abuse is now recognised as the most prevalent form of child maltreatment.
New research highlights the importance of teacher–student communication
The report includes major new research by Words Matter with the UCL Institute of Education, providing important evidence on the importance of teacher–student communication in children’s experience of school.
The research, which included more than 1,000 students and more than 600 teachers alongside in-depth qualitative research, found that:
- 93% of students said positive communication from teachers makes them more motivated to come to school.
- 94% said positive and encouraging teachers help them learn.
- One in four students (25%) said they had experienced harsh words from teachers.
- 84% of students said negative communication from teachers makes them less motivated to come to school.
- 76% of teachers said building positive relationships with pupils is central to their role, while 93% agreed that positive teacher–student relationships are key to student success, but many said workload, pupil behaviour, curriculum pressures and school culture make building those relationships consistently more difficult.
The research also found that students who experienced harsh language reported feeling humiliated, losing confidence, feeling sad, becoming less interested in learning and feeling singled out, among other impacts.
The report highlights that positive teacher–student relationships are at the heart of education. These relationships are built through everyday interactions and are two-way: teachers have a professional responsibility as adults working with children, while relationships are shaped by both teachers and students and by the wider culture and conditions in which schools operate. Positive relationships help children feel known, respected and valued, while enabling teachers to teach effectively and experience greater professional fulfilment. The report also discusses the importance of understanding neurodivergence and unconscious bias and how assumptions about children’s behaviour or needs can contribute to repeated criticism, correctionor negative interactions.
Paddy Crump talked about his own experience of childhood verbal abuse at school, and how the impact was both immediate and lasting. Reflecting on his experience, he said:
“School was telling me that I needed to be there and telling me I needed to succeed…while really pushing me away.”
His contribution reiterated the importance of schools being places where children feel safe, listened to and able to use their voice, particularly when they are experiencing difficulties or when adults may not understand their behaviour or needs.
Seven recommendations for action
The report sets out seven recommendations aimed at embedding the prevention of childhood verbal abuse across education and safeguarding:
- Explicitly recognise childhood verbal abuse within education and safeguarding policy
- Make positive teacher–pupil relationships a strategic priority for school improvement
- Create school cultures where expectations and positive relationships reinforce one another
- Support teachers to build and sustain positive relationships
- Strengthen professional development on communication, relational practice and neurodivergence
- Put children’s voices at the centre of prevention, recognition and repair
- Create a national awareness campaign
Together, the recommendations seek to ensure that positive communication and relationships are embedded across safeguarding, behaviour, inclusion and school improvement, while giving teachers and other staff the knowledge, skills and support to build positive relationships and repair them when things go wrong.
Lord Jim Knight, who chaired the House of Commons discussion, said:
“Every child should feel safe, valued, respected and like they belong at school. These findings provide a timely reminder that words can have a lasting impact on young people’s lives. Having spent many years working in education, I know just how much teachers care about their relationships with students – and how hard they work to build them, often in very challenging circumstances. This research shows that when teachers get the support and space to communicate positively, everyone benefits. I urge decision makers to take these research findings seriously.”
Jessica Bondy, Founder of Words Matter, said:
“Our research and this discussion have shown why preventing childhood verbal abuse in education is so critical. We need to ensure all schools create the conditions in which positive relationships can flourish between teachers and students, so that children feel safe, valued and able to learn, and teachers are supported to build those relationships. With verbal abuse now explicitly recognised in KCSIE 2026, we have an important opportunity to turn recognition into action and make positive communication a core part of education and safeguarding practice.”
Words Matter is already working with schools through its Words Matter Schools Programme, involving teachers, students and parents, and has developed practical resources to support positive, respectful communication with children and young people.
ENDS
Notes to editors
About Words Matter
Words Matter is a charity on a mission to improve children’s mental and physical health and development by ending verbal abuse by the adults around them. Its work focuses on research, raising awareness, and collaboration with experts, decision makers, organisations and people with lived experience to develop and scale solutions to prevent childhood verbal abuse.
Research
The teacher–student research was undertaken by the UCL Institute of Education during 2024, led by Professor Vivian Hill with Dr Rhea Dosi and Dr Eva Yi Man Chow, and included 92 students aged 11–16 and 10 secondary school teachers. Quantitative research was subsequently undertaken by Family, Kids & Youth, with 1,002 student responses and 628 teacher responses.
Resources
Words Matter provides a free evidence-based online course, Words Matter: How to Communicate with Children so they Thrive, through FutureLearn, as well as a free practical guide to communicating with children in any classroom.