As mentioned elsewhere, some teachers who experience student-to-teacher harassment do not report these problems for fear of retribution or criticism from their supervisors. Those who do complain about aggressive student behavior are often blamed for the conflict or are disregarded as overreacting. These problems are exacerbated when teachers are part-time or untenured.
We can begin to gain administrative support by talking openly about conflicts we've experienced. We must depend, to some extent, on those faculty in secure positions to create an open dialogue between instructors of all levels and administrators. Program directors, writing program administrators, department chairs, and other concerned administrators should not wait for teachers to come them, but should instead take an active approach to dealing with these issues. Through forums, listservs, workshops, speakers series, etc., we can open the channels of communication for those who may fear to speak.