Is your middle school a mess regarding behavior post-covid?

[Anonymous]

Our normally highly regarded middle school in terms of morale, safety, and positive environment has been a hot mess this year. Fights, bullying, vaping, misbehavior in the community after school, police getting called to the school for fighting, etc. From talking to my teacher friends and other parents, we are all really wondering if this is the age that was most deeply effective by covid isolation and virtual learning (kids that were 5th, 6th, 7th, graders during the height of the pandemic).

What are you all seeing? Is your local middle school having these issues? Any ideas of how to make it better? Or do we just coincidentally have a couple rough classes of kids that would have been this way anyway?

[Anonymous]

Yes, but the classes in question were rough way before Covid. One of my friends taught at one of the feeder elementary schools and had the group in 2nd grade. She told me she cried practically every single lunch period and she wasn’t an inexperienced teacher at the time.

[Anonymous]

Are you talking about Frost? I think the construction has added to the problems. Also with the girl fight- there was no adult anywhere around as they changed classes. I think the kids have been affected by the pandemic the most but sometimes I get the feeling that the staff forgot how to deal with this age group.

[Anonymous]

Yes - at Cooper. I think part of the problem is the administration who seem intent on punishing small things but are leaving bigger things to fester. Plus there has been no effort to deal with the anxiety a lot of kids felt about returning to middle school, nothing has been done to help them socially and overall, I wish I hadn't sent my child there.

[Anonymous]

Everywhere is a hot mess. This isn't an FCPS thing or a middle school thing. It's not about rich kids or poor kids. It's all across the country.

[Anonymous]

POST-Covid??? Who are you kidding? We're at numbers higher than in January. Covid is not over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:POST-Covid??? Who are you kidding? We're at numbers higher than in January. Covid is not over.

I should have said post-virtual school, that being home and isolated from social groups for a full year (5 quarters for many) is what is causing the problem.

And I was referencing a different school than those mentioned above - Irving in Springfield.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:POST-Covid??? Who are you kidding? We're at numbers higher than in January. Covid is not over.

I should have said post-virtual school, that being home and isolated from social groups for a full year (5 quarters for many) is what is causing the problem.

And I was referencing a different school than those mentioned above - Irving in Springfield.

I'm familiar with one of the recent bullying cases at Irving, the kid was suspended for a bit so hopefully that deters it for the remainder of the year. In my experience, I think part of the issue is parents wrongly assuming that a well-regarded school means their kids are free of bad influences and no further discipline or moral compass lessons are required on their part. It comes down to poor parenting.

[Anonymous]

My kid is an 8th grader at Irving and I also am at a loss as to what’s happening. A bit nervous for my younger child to attend next year.

[Anonymous]

My oldest started at Irving the year COVID hit, so didn't quite have a full year there, but there were not the issues I have heard about happening this year. I don't know if it's the year and a half of virtual or something about the particular group of kids there now, but I worry for my youngest to start there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everywhere is a hot mess. This isn't an FCPS thing or a middle school thing. It's not about rich kids or poor kids. It's all across the country.

Yes and no. Not every school system kept kids out of buildings and left kids on their own to fend with distance learning as long as FCPS. Now the chickens are coming home to roost. No kids in middle school but definitely noticed freshmen in multiple HS this year who behaved like oversized 6th or 7th graders.

[Anonymous]

My friend who works at Rocky Run MS said the same thing. Kids who act like 5th graders in 8th grade size bodies.

They had some kind of sexual assault situation this fall which is unheard of for them.

[Anonymous]

As the parent of a 6th grader, a rising 7th grader who will go to one of these middle schools next year, this post is unnerving.

Have these kids, these 5th graders in 8th grader bodies, gotten any better over the course of the school year? Has anything improved? Or not?

[Anonymous]

Cooper is a hot mess this year. I can’t even believe some of the stories I hear from my kid about how everyone is acting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:POST-Covid??? Who are you kidding? We're at numbers higher than in January. Covid is not over.

I should have said post-virtual school, that being home and isolated from social groups for a full year (5 quarters for many) is what is causing the problem.

And I was referencing a different school than those mentioned above - Irving in Springfield.

I'm at a feeder school. We had heard that area businesses are having to have increased police presence due to issues with MS and HS students.

Unfortunately, I can't say we aren't seeing increased misbehaviors at the ES level. We are experiencing a lot of issues.