Student behavior problems keep getting worse, say teachers and administrators in a recent Education Week poll. Since 2019, before the pandemic, "there’s been a pronounced spike in behavior problems, ranging from minor classroom disruptions to more serious student fights broadcast on social media," reports Caitlynn Peetz. "Teachers have also reported a drop in students’ motivation."
The 2024 survey results were slightly worse than in 2023, despite schools' efforts to engage students and strengthen student-teacher relationships, she writes.
Not surprisingly, it's bad for morale. “Our school is really struggling with student behaviors (lots of disrespect and not following the rules, and teachers are almost too tired to even care),” one person wrote.
If negative behaviors don't have appropriately negative consequences, you won't see any change.
They spend more time "building relationships" and less time actually disciplining. There are far fewer consequences for negative behaviors that there used to be. Then add to that kids constantly getting pulled out of class to see the counselor (not for class scheduling but for mental health reasons) and now they are also behind in their classwork and don't know what's going on.