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

[Anonymous]

Are we still blaming Covid for behavioral problems a year later?

My middle school kid is pretty moody. He stayed home for a year and went back to school last spring. He has been back in school for over a year. He is shy and socially awkward. Thirty years ago, I was also a shy, socially awkward, moody middle school student. There were plenty of bad kids at my middle school. They tried to be cool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are we still blaming Covid for behavioral problems a year later?

My middle school kid is pretty moody. He stayed home for a year and went back to school last spring. He has been back in school for over a year. He is shy and socially awkward. Thirty years ago, I was also a shy, socially awkward, moody middle school student. There were plenty of bad kids at my middle school. They tried to be cool.

Of course. Schools were closed for over a year, then barely opened for the last month or so and just had the kids staring at screens in person. Now middle schoolers won't even take masks off their faces b/c they are afraid for people to see what they really look like.

[Anonymous]

All of the above. Honestly, it was bad before COVID. But it's worse now, as I try to get my third kid through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Covid is absolutely over. Stop with your nonsense

No, it’s not, Brenda. Stop with your nonsense.

Covid is over but unfortunately all these kids are going to be messed up for years, and it was all pointless.

[Anonymous]

Middle schoolers are really damaged. I substitute-taught at Rocky Run last month and overheard 7th grade girls discussing who had "mask face"--meaning who turned out to be uglier with their mask off. All of the kids are still wearing masks.

And I think smart phone use during the school day should absolutely be banned at least in middle school. Come on, WTF do they need to be on phones for during the day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middle schoolers are really damaged. I substitute-taught at Rocky Run last month and overheard 7th grade girls discussing who had "mask face"--meaning who turned out to be uglier with their mask off. All of the kids are still wearing masks.

And I think smart phone use during the school day should absolutely be banned at least in middle school. Come on, WTF do they need to be on phones for during the day?

Middle schoolers have long been finding ways to disparage themselves or others over looks. Gross comments like 'mask face' are just one more way to do it.
I do think phones/social media do change this and think middle schools should just have a no phones policy--you put them in the sub-school and you don't have them all day. I WISH they would just do this rather than leaving it up to the teacher etc. who then has to waste time battling it or give up. So many problems would be lessened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middle schoolers are really damaged. I substitute-taught at Rocky Run last month and overheard 7th grade girls discussing who had "mask face"--meaning who turned out to be uglier with their mask off. All of the kids are still wearing masks.

And I think smart phone use during the school day should absolutely be banned at least in middle school. Come on, WTF do they need to be on phones for during the day?

There have always been mean girls. Lots of ugly people looked better with masks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Middle schoolers are really damaged. I substitute-taught at Rocky Run last month and overheard 7th grade girls discussing who had "mask face"--meaning who turned out to be uglier with their mask off. All of the kids are still wearing masks.

And I think smart phone use during the school day should absolutely be banned at least in middle school. Come on, WTF do they need to be on phones for during the day?

There have always been mean girls. Lots of ugly people looked better with masks.

The mask situation is just exacerbating all the regular MS issues AND all the covid-caused MS issues. It is really, really sad that middle schoolers don't want anyone to see their face b/c they are worried they will be mocked as someone who looks uglier without their mask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, it's been like that for decades...it's just more documented, shared on 24/7 social media, and overall parents being more sensitive about their snowflakes.

Grew up in FCPS - fights in the parking lot, weed in the bathrooms, jocks and jerks making fun of the nerds, class clowns and their school pranks, writings all over the bathroom stalls, and the list goes on.

It's nothing new...just a 21st century twist.

+1
If you look at the data, there are less disruptive behaviors, fights, bullying, teen pregnancies, smoking/drug use than there were in earlier decades. More anxiety and mental health concerns now though. (Whether that's greater diagnoses due to less stigma or actual increases though, who knows)

There is NO WAY there is less bullying now. NO WAY. I agree with you on the teen pregnancies and smoking/drug use-----but at least those were marks that kids had social skills and interpersonal relationships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, it's been like that for decades...it's just more documented, shared on 24/7 social media, and overall parents being more sensitive about their snowflakes.

Grew up in FCPS - fights in the parking lot, weed in the bathrooms, jocks and jerks making fun of the nerds, class clowns and their school pranks, writings all over the bathroom stalls, and the list goes on.

It's nothing new...just a 21st century twist.

+1
If you look at the data, there are less disruptive behaviors, fights, bullying, teen pregnancies, smoking/drug use than there were in earlier decades. More anxiety and mental health concerns now though. (Whether that's greater diagnoses due to less stigma or actual increases though, who knows)

There is NO WAY there is less bullying now. NO WAY. I agree with you on the teen pregnancies and smoking/drug use-----but at least those were marks that kids had social skills and interpersonal relationships.

https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/139/6/e20162615/38695/Ten-Year-Trends-in-Bullying-and-Related-Attitudes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought OP was talking about Thoreau. And the freshman at Madison as well. Everyone is acting like they are a few years behind socially. So much trying to act cool/obnoxious behavior around certain parts of TOV.

Like outside Chipotle/Crumbl/Noodles!!!! I generally have a lot of tolerance for tween/teen antics, but it has gotten out of control!!

[Anonymous]

Freshman at our school are struggling a lot and phone use is a disaster-watching inappropriate shows during class, violating eachother's privacy taking photos and videos without consent.School has no boundaries with phones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought OP was talking about Thoreau. And the freshman at Madison as well. Everyone is acting like they are a few years behind socially. So much trying to act cool/obnoxious behavior around certain parts of TOV.

Like outside Chipotle/Crumbl/Noodles!!!! I generally have a lot of tolerance for tween/teen antics, but it has gotten out of control!!

Yes and the softball fields! Argh so obnoxious. Like extra. There have always been teens hanging out in the area but never this attitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are we still blaming Covid for behavioral problems a year later?

My middle school kid is pretty moody. He stayed home for a year and went back to school last spring. He has been back in school for over a year. He is shy and socially awkward. Thirty years ago, I was also a shy, socially awkward, moody middle school student. There were plenty of bad kids at my middle school. They tried to be cool.

Of course. Schools were closed for over a year, then barely opened for the last month or so and just had the kids staring at screens in person. Now middle schoolers won't even take masks off their faces b/c they are afraid for people to see what they really look like.

Barely opened for the last month? DCUM loves to spin the truth. It was 3 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

These are Great Recession babies. Parents were stressed and it trickles down.