Student behavior problems continue to plague schools, and educators say they’ve become more serious, according to a 2024 survey by the EdWeek Research Center and reported in Education Week.
Nearly half of teachers, school leaders, and district leaders reported in the survey that students’ behavior was a lot worse when compared to their pre-pandemic behavior.
Student misbehavior routinely tops teachers’ lists of concerns and most pressing challenges in recent years. Since the pandemic there has been a definite increase in behavior problems — from minor classroom disruptions to more serious student fights broadcast on social media. Teachers have also reported a drop in students’ motivation in that time period.
To minimize disruptions, schools have been working on strategies to better engage students in their learning, reinforce good behavior, and strengthen student-teacher relationships.
Many elementary and middle school teachers have reported in surveys in recent years that they need more support in dealing with student discipline, and that additional help would improve their mental health. Eighty percent of teachers reported they have to address students’ behavioral problems “at least a few times a week,” with 58 percent saying this happens every day, according to a Pew Research Center report from April 2024.
“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 in an open-ended response to a EdWeek Research Center survey. “We even had a PD yesterday regarding some of that, and I don’t think any of the teachers left feeling hopeful or with anything they could take back [to] their classrooms. It’s really disconcerting that no one is offering solutions to help the teachers.”
Another respondent added that while student behavior in their classroom is about the same, hallways and other common spaces have gotten rowdier. Teachers hare reported that hallway fights— sometimes filmed and posted on the internet—can ignite cycles of cyberbullying and additional problems later.
“When students are outside of class in hallways, gathered during non-class times, etc., there seems to be an increase in lack of awareness of their environment,” the person wrote. “Students, especially underclassmen, are louder, more belligerent, unkind, and socially awkward. There also seems to be a larger population of students who struggle to separate fantasy from reality. Finally, the phone addiction has had a negative impact on students’ ability to relate to each other and adults effectively, to maintain focus on tasks at hand, to problem-solve, to persevere, to think creatively, and to appreciate moments of peace.”
Some educators (9 percent in one survey) said students are misbehaving less now. One survey respondent credited improved leadership for their school’s better student behavior.
“Our student behaviors have improved since 2019 because our administration has improved,” the person wrote in an open-ended response. “We now have administrators with teaching experience, whereas in 2019 our administrators had no classroom experience and sometimes showed no ability to even address a group of students effectively.”
Education Week
