AN RTÉ DOCUMENTARY that aired last night shared testimonies from victims of violence in schools.

Now adults, victims told of being hit by teachers who perpetuated a culture of fear, with one interviewee saying violence was an hourly occurrence.

As well as featuring interviews with survivors, the documentary addressed the lack of documented reports of abuse allegations kept by the Department of Education.

There was a scoping report into historical sexual abuse at religious schools released in September. Now there are calls to expand the subsequent inquiry to include all forms of violence.

Taoiseach Simon Harris described the stories as “harrowing” and said he would “reflect” on the request from survivors that the inquiry be expanded. 

With this in mind, we want to hear from you about your school days.

• Did you experience violence like what was covered in the RTÉ documentary?
• Did you feel afraid of your teachers?
• Were you a teacher who witnessed violence against children?

Please share your experiences by emailing a paragraph or two (around 200-250 words max) to answers@thejournal.ie or by clicking the button below. 

Please include your name, county and roughly when your experiences took place, or tell us if you would like to remain anonymous.