Yelling in school?

[Anonymous]

My daughter says she doesn’t want to return to her in-bounds school this coming school year because “all the teachers yell.” Truth be told, I have noticed this myself but have never directly discussed it with her before. I appreciate the difficulty teachers must have with managing ES kids, but it does seem like the default for many is yelling: in the classroom, in the hallways, at recess, at pick-up.

Why is this? Is it the default at other elementary schools? (Ours is Ludlow). I’m not trying to disparage LT - it has a lot of good points, too - but I’m interested in others’ experiences. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter says she doesn’t want to return to her in-bounds school this coming school year because “all the teachers yell.” Truth be told, I have noticed this myself but have never directly discussed it with her before. I appreciate the difficulty teachers must have with managing ES kids, but it does seem like the default for many is yelling: in the classroom, in the hallways, at recess, at pick-up.

Why is this? Is it the default at other elementary schools? (Ours is Ludlow). I’m not trying to disparage LT - it has a lot of good points, too - but I’m interested in others’ experiences. Thanks.

Have you ever tried quietly saying something to large groups of active kids? How did that work for you? How did you get —and hold—the attention of the kids?

FWIW, I’ve spent many years working in elementary and middle schools. I have a very soft voice. I have had some feedback from kids that my very soft voice can, at times, be confusing/intimidating for them. It takes a lot of experience to quietly interact with large groups of kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter says she doesn’t want to return to her in-bounds school this coming school year because “all the teachers yell.” Truth be told, I have noticed this myself but have never directly discussed it with her before. I appreciate the difficulty teachers must have with managing ES kids, but it does seem like the default for many is yelling: in the classroom, in the hallways, at recess, at pick-up.

Why is this? Is it the default at other elementary schools? (Ours is Ludlow). I’m not trying to disparage LT - it has a lot of good points, too - but I’m interested in others’ experiences. Thanks.

No it’s not OP. That is a teacher management problem.

[Anonymous]

Ive has kids in DCPS elementary schools for 8 years, only one teacher yelled (she was a first year, she always apologized, and it got better with time.)

[Anonymous]

Oldest kid is going into middle school. Never heard a teacher yell once at the school. Only time, I’ve heard someone yell was on field trips to downtown DC and that was just so the kids walking in the back could hear. Not exactly the same situation.

[Anonymous]

All teachers yell at some point in their careers. Especially around this time of year. A teacher trying to get the attention of 20 or more kids has to use a voice of authority at times. It gets better with time, newer teachers yell more.

[Anonymous]

Our school is the opposite. The classrooms are so quiet it is hard to believe.

[Anonymous]

Only one teacher in our ES was a yeller and my sensitive kiddo did not have her. Middle school was a different story, lots of adults yelling at kids, especially the halls between classes, and my kid was wreck every day. We had to move him to a much smaller school and it has been a great experience.

[Anonymous]

Breaking news: sometimes teachers yell. This thread is completely pointless. It's as if no one here has ever stepped foot in a school building before.

[Anonymous]

highly effective teachers mostly dont yell.

[Anonymous]

So … there is a culture of yelling at some schools. Watkins. LT. … schools that historically had a lot of lower income kids. You don’t see this at schools like Brent, SWS, etc.

[Anonymous]

It absolutely isn't okay to yell at students multiple times a week, and can be damaging to some students. I have ADHD and teachers yelling stressed me out, and when I started working in schools a few years ago I noticed it was often the neurodivergent kids (suspected or diagnosed) that would get more distressed. Many of us are more sensitive to rejection and have sensory issues. Shouting at students triggers both of those.

I can see why teachers might be more prone to yelling as they're under a lot of pressure, there's big systemic issues. That doesn't make it okay, and I think all school staff should ideally have training on emotional regulation and trauma-informed techniques. I'm sorry it made your daughter's school experience harder. Every student deserves to be taught in a safe and predictable environment.

[Anonymous]

Have others experienced this at L-T? It's also our IB and now I'm stressed about it. My kid is highly sensitive to yelling/raised voices.

[Anonymous]

My kids claim that all teachers yell at some point, but not all are yellers, if that makes sense.

[Anonymous]

I've never had a kid in a DCPS school, but my professional experience is that, yes, there is a lot of yelling. That may not be as true at the wealthier schools, but there's definitely a culture of yelling in a lot of DCPS schools. More so than I grew up with in the schools I attended.