There are alarming new statistics out regarding violence in Ontario elementary school classrooms.

Among them is the fact that almost 40 percent of elementary teachers from the English boards in Ontario have suffered mental stress, injury or illness as a result of violence in schools.

It's all in a new report from the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario that says, these days, violence in the classroom is more the norm than the exception.

"When you see violence day-in and day-out, it takes a toll mentally and emotionally." said Barb Blasutti, the President of ETFO for the Rainbow School District, who  represents about 650 teachers.

In a recent survey, 70 percent of English school board elementary teachers in the province say they have personally experienced violence or have witnessed it in schools.

"Kicking, punching, biting, scratching, throwing chairs, throwing tables, attacking with scissors. You name it; Rainbow teachers have seen the whole gamut of violence." said Blasutti.

The study also points out that teachers have reported a rise in the occurrence and severity of violent incidents. 

"Now we have children who are entering the system with, not the skills that we used to see. Be it language skills, or social skills or the toileting skills, but they are also coming with a multitude of mental illnesses." said Blasutti.

She says these incidents are causing an entire generation of students to have their learning disrupted on a constant basis.

The Rainbow District School Board says it is reviewing the survey and notes it already keeps track of its own incidents.

"Should they arise, on the occasion where they do, they are gone over by the administrator. There is feedback provided and we take them very, very seriously." said Rainbow Board Superintendent, Bruce Bourget.

The union says it will continue to pressure the government to put a more concentrated effort on assessing children and coming up with more support for them. It says the mental health illnesses seen in classrooms are far beyond the scope of what teachers are trained for.