Is this a high percentage FARMs school? Poverty leads to terrible behavior. Mainly because it likely means absent parents, homelessness, one parent incarcerated, random relatives raising kids, etc.

I went to a “good” suburban public school (2002 high school graduation) Not wealthy, but very few would have been considered low income. I don’t recall any of these problems. No one swore at teachers (during class), threw anything, were destructive, starting fights. It just didn’t happen. The only bad behavior I recall was loitering in halls, sleeping in class, or talking when teacher was teaching.

Anonymous wrote:DD is about to go to MS, and a friend whose daughter is a year ahead, and going to the same MS, said that teachers yell at the kids a lot more than she expected, but also that the kids are generally acting like a$$holes.

I think behavior is lot worse since the pandemic.

My son is in 8th and I have a son in 10th who was at the same MS. This is the first year we get regular communication from the Principal and teachers about the students(overall--not mine singled out) poor behavior.

The Principal has had to reiterate school policy numerous times and some teachers have put out a call for behavior change.

MS is generally a time of kids acting out with all of those hormones and new freedom before maturing a bit before HS--but I think the pandemic and lack of structure and way more electronics for many of these kids is a good reason why...and some of these kids started in-person mid-middle school. They didn't have a 6th grade MS adjustment--they had their first year at home.

DD is about to go to MS, and a friend whose daughter is a year ahead, and going to the same MS, said that teachers yell at the kids a lot more than she expected, but also that the kids are generally acting like a$$holes.

Something my mom (a teacher) told me, and like four other teachers in my family agreed with, is that some years of kids are just terribly behaved. I saw this play out with my own daughter. When she was in 6th, the 8th grade year was constantly getting into physical fights, getting suspended for random things, destruction of property, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is unfortunate, however tween/teen period is a time of change - wanting to fit in, try on new personas, and yes test authority. There have been books written, movies made, and angst expressed throughout the span of time (Grease - the movie, being a classic example.) Wait until the weaather warms up...

Experienced schools, teachers, and parents would understand this, and as best as possible, would help "guide" our wayward youth.

In the meantime, i would suggest you take some deep breaths, and recognize this too shall pass...

Ah yes, Grease, that classic tale of middle school angst. 33-year-old Stockard Channing really nailed it as an unruly tween for the ages.

Grease was about high school seniors

Anonymous wrote:This is not a troll post but I don’t understand kids who are continuing to misbehave in class like they were in first grade again. Throwing objects and swearing at the teacher. My kid reported that an entire class was shut down because the teacher had to reiterate classroom rules. These are known troublemakers, but honestly, by 6th grade, shouldn’t you have your act together? WTF!

What a sheltered live you've lived if you can't understand why some kids may act out. How willfully ignorant you remain. I hope you're enjoying your superior parenting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not surprised by it anymore. Teachers can do next to nothing about it. So many kids have X, Y or Z going on that hasn't been addressed. Or parents who defend their kids no matter what. Or kids who have gotten away with crap this long so why change?

DS was relieved in HS when he had a couple of teachers who would send the disruptive ones wherever (one kid to the principal, another to their support person, it was pre-arranged) and carry on teaching.

+1. Our school's administrators have also said it's been worse since Covid. It's like parents just abdicated parenting and teaching appropriate behaviors, and I'm not just talking poor families, this is a good school in a well-off area. It also sounds like in the last two years a lot more young kids (and by that I mean tweens) have gotten access to social media, YouTube and other platforms with content not appropriate for them. It all adds up.

God bless the teachers. I'd be the teacher sending your child to the office every single time, and emailing you every single time until at some point you decided to engage and get your child whatever help they need. Enough with disrupting the education of everyone else.

I'm the PP you quoted. First of all, thank you for that. Some teachers don't have supportive admin though.

I recall one principal in our Elementary school. Unruly kid was spitting, screaming and hitting. He went down to the hallway where the kid was, scooped him up and carried him to the office. Kid was kicking and screaming " you can't touch me!" Principal: " you aren't supposed to hit people either, but you did." Kid was actually suspended, with his mother spluttering about having to work. Nobody cared. He came back with a behavior contract in place 🙄. However, that piece of paper allowed for him to be removed from the classroom with the requirement that he be picked up in 30 minutes or suspended again. He went home (or to whoever) a few times before things started to change.

Anonymous wrote:It is unfortunate, however tween/teen period is a time of change - wanting to fit in, try on new personas, and yes test authority. There have been books written, movies made, and angst expressed throughout the span of time (Grease - the movie, being a classic example.) Wait until the weaather warms up...

Experienced schools, teachers, and parents would understand this, and as best as possible, would help "guide" our wayward youth.

In the meantime, i would suggest you take some deep breaths, and recognize this too shall pass...

Ah yes, Grease, that classic tale of middle school angst. 33-year-old Stockard Channing really nailed it as an unruly tween for the ages.

Middle school is THE WORST.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not surprised by it anymore. Teachers can do next to nothing about it. So many kids have X, Y or Z going on that hasn't been addressed. Or parents who defend their kids no matter what. Or kids who have gotten away with crap this long so why change?

DS was relieved in HS when he had a couple of teachers who would send the disruptive ones wherever (one kid to the principal, another to their support person, it was pre-arranged) and carry on teaching.

+1. Our school's administrators have also said it's been worse since Covid. It's like parents just abdicated parenting and teaching appropriate behaviors, and I'm not just talking poor families, this is a good school in a well-off area. It also sounds like in the last two years a lot more young kids (and by that I mean tweens) have gotten access to social media, YouTube and other platforms with content not appropriate for them. It all adds up.

God bless the teachers. I'd be the teacher sending your child to the office every single time, and emailing you every single time until at some point you decided to engage and get your child whatever help they need. Enough with disrupting the education of everyone else.

I went to Catholic School in the 80s (in MS) and this was not uncommon even then. It's . . . middle school.

I can recall so many shenanigans, disruptive behavior, and yes fights even in my very small school.

This is not new.

I'm not surprised by it anymore. Teachers can do next to nothing about it. So many kids have X, Y or Z going on that hasn't been addressed. Or parents who defend their kids no matter what. Or kids who have gotten away with crap this long so why change?

DS was relieved in HS when he had a couple of teachers who would send the disruptive ones wherever (one kid to the principal, another to their support person, it was pre-arranged) and carry on teaching.

In my experience, sometimes the kids who struggle in a given class try to distract the teacher and rest of the class. If they don’t feel comfortable with the content, they are looking for ways to redirect the focus.

On the flip side are the kids who are too advanced and bored and similarly try to cause chaos.

It is unfortunate, however tween/teen period is a time of change - wanting to fit in, try on new personas, and yes test authority. There have been books written, movies made, and angst expressed throughout the span of time (Grease - the movie, being a classic example.) Wait until the weaather warms up...

Experienced schools, teachers, and parents would understand this, and as best as possible, would help "guide" our wayward youth.

In the meantime, i would suggest you take some deep breaths, and recognize this too shall pass...

This is not a troll post but I don’t understand kids who are continuing to misbehave in class like they were in first grade again. Throwing objects and swearing at the teacher. My kid reported that an entire class was shut down because the teacher had to reiterate classroom rules. These are known troublemakers, but honestly, by 6th grade, shouldn’t you have your act together? WTF!