Reply to Did schools used to have behavioral problems like they do now?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I just finished year 25 in the classroom.

For argument's sake, let's say 3-5% of students are going to have serious behavioral problems, for whatever reason. I am not saying that those kids are bad, just that they are not able or not willing to function in a regular classroom without extreme behaviors. Those kids used to be suspended and over, sent to alternative programs, or put in full time special education classrooms, even at young ages. They didn't have a big effect on the rest of the kids, because they were rarely present.

Now we keep those kids in class because we want them in school. When they get dysregulated, we clear the room. We have extensive behavior plans. There are reward systems. The class essentially revolves around this child and his or her moods, for YEARS.

Let's say there's another 10% of kids who would have behavior issues, but ones that a teacher would typically be able to handle. Now they have an already-high level of disruption in the room, and in their judgment, the student with extreme behaviors doesn't seem to experience negative consequences. They escalate and feed off of each other.

The tone of the room is now completely different. You've got another, say, 20% in the room, who would be fine if the vibe of the room was fairly calm and predictable. Now they are following the lead of the instigators, or they are acting out from their own stress because this classroom is tense, chaotic, and unhappy.

We've gone from 10% of kids with mild misbehavior to now maybe 35%, many of whom now have seriously disruptive or extreme behaviors. The other kids are along for the ride, either trying to learn in the chaos, drifting along with their own needs unmet, even becoming literally traumatized by the physical violence occurring near them.

Admin tells the teacher to try forming relationships, make their lessons more engaging, etc. One training FCPS just put its teachers through said that we need to stop calling it misbehavior but instead "stress behavior," and instead of trying to stop it, figuring out what is stressing the child out and reduce the stressor. All responsibility is on the teacher.

This was all done with good intentions. It didn't work.

The kid we are keeping in class is still not learning, and now most of the other kids (many of whom also have trauma, disadvantaged backgrounds, and/or disabilities) aren't either. [/quote]

Absolutely spot on, and as a fellow teacher I recommend this message[/quote]

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