Behaviour, is it just my school?

[PupInAPram]

In the decades I've worked here, behaviour has never been this bad. Off the scale bad. Is it something to do with my school, or is it happening in all schools?

My eldest son aged 8 told me some horrific things that happen in his classroom, I asked about them on parents even and the teacher said, it’s all true he just can’t cope and all the TAs have refused to go into the class room. His teacher also said if my so. can survive being in class ‘4E’ for the whole year he will survive in life which I found unnerving!

That's not OK, what's the head doing?

@SparkleBrows The head is doing F*k all! Honestly his teacher just looked broken, it was a really hard too see a human being look so ground up! another school mum commented how she found herself listening to the problems and it felt like a counciling session not a parents evening.

Honestly, I'd take that to the governors.

It’s been going on for several years in some schools. I remember talking with a friend a couple of years before Covid when she was due to retire. She taught the reception class in a fairly rough school. We were talking about the difference between the early years of her career when she had no TAs and larger classes and when we were at school and had huge classes and one teacher - my mother remembers there being 42 children in my reception class. Her reply was that behaviour had deteriorated and she would far rather have a class of 35 children with no TA from thirty years ago than a present day class of thirty with two TAs.

That should have said vaping, not baking! Baking would be preferable...

My best friend is a primary teacher, I met her for dinner last week and she said she honestly can't wait to leave her nice, leafy home counties school in a very middle-class area. She said the behaviour, disrespect and screaming is off the scale.

I have 3 DC and the youngest is currently in Y3. I've been on a couple of school trips with them this year and the only word to use to describe them is feral - both boys and girls. A marked difference from the behaviour I saw from my older DC's years.

I run a Beaver Scouts group (age 6-8) and discussing with my fellow leaders at other groups, we all agree that behaviour has declined noticeably since that start of Covid. Much more disruptive, with many more kids unable to take turns, work cooperatively, follow instructions or just. Stop. TALKING. Plus more low-level physicality (shoving each other, kicking etc). Not all kids and not all the time, but enough to make each weekly session much more challenging to plan and run than BC. I am thankful that I only see them for an hour and fifteen minutes every week!

Andrew Tate is having a marked impact on young boys, to add to the problem

Yea it's worse.

I work special education so would expect to see more challenging behaviours but even for special Ed we are seeing behaviours off the scale!

It's awful everywhere. Way worse than 10-15 years ago. There's no comparison. No chance in hell would I send my kids to a UK secondary school.

Nope, you're not wrong.

I teach secondary. 5 really good, experienced staff members going at Easter and not one staying in teaching.

Behaviour is a big part of it

People can't keep blaming covid for everything. If was chunks of 2 years. Behaviour was pretty bad before covid came along, but now there's another reason for it.

I wonder what would happen to behaviour if, in my utopian world, parents ALL answered the phone willing to accept the teacher's account and then supported the school, regardless of personal feelings? Just for a few weeks.

I lurk on the local high school group my dc go to. I have to prevent myself going on and asking a. If the school is so shit why don't you move your kid? B. If you think the school should be able to use harsher discipline, how come it doesn't apply to your kids?Teachers don't stand a chance.

Finally I do think a lot of kids genuinely don't know how to respond to adults, because they've never been taught. They think answering back and ignoring staff is acceptable; especially if they don't feel respected during the exchange. I'm expected to accept much higher levels of rudeness from strangers ' kids than mine would even dream of.

I noticed the same at the last watching class at ballet (DD is 8) - so much more disruptive behaviour than I ever saw in the classes when DD1 danced about 5 years ago - children calling out constantly, interupting, just running off to the side whenever they felt like it, chatting to their friends, little arguments, jostles and subsequent sulks about who was partnering whom.

DD wasn't a shining example of good behaviour either - and apparently (at school at least) she is one of the better behaved ones.

Massive issue in our middle class highly successful state school. My child tells me about children answering back and telling teachers to F Off. they have gone back to zero tolerance and it’s paying off. The teachers at parents evening told me that behaviour has improved immeasurably and that there is vast improvement

my youngest decided to answer a teacher back. The mistake was to tell me, I read him the riot act like he has never heard before and made him immediately write an apology email to the teacher. He told me the teacher didn’t respect him.

I was extremely clear with him that at 12 no teacher is going to respect any child let alone one who is rude and to get that out of their head.

trust me, it won’t happen again because o also have zero tolerance of poor behaviour

I was extremely clear with him that at 12 no teacher is going to respect any child let alone one who is rude and to get that out of their head

Every teacher should respect every child. They also shouldn't tolerate rudeness but everyone should be treated with respect.

The child needs to be respecting the teacher first. Good on you @Toddlingturtle for parenting appropriately.

My child went to an after school club. She has her property put down the toilet and was strangled both hands around neck by the same child who is 7 years old. I got safeguarding involved and all that happened is child is asked to use gentle hands. Sorry but where was the discipline or suspension to learn a lesson???

It's adults too, I work in the criminal justice system, we've always dealt with abuse towards staff, but since Covid, it's every day and to really extreme levels. The sense of entitlement is astounding, I don't know where it's coming from. Sad to hear it's affecting the children too, DS is at nursery and there don't seen to be any issues there

@SparkleBrows am the same. I teach In a PRU and the unit that used to be boy dominated is about 50/50. And the girls are much harder to manage.

@hettiethehare interesting that you've seen it at a different kind of extra-curricular activity. I find myself wishing that I could do what my kids' judo leaders do, and give pressups to those who dick around on the tatami! (Don't think the Scout Association would like it...)

my son has just started at the local high school in August. My god it’s opened my eyes, some of the kids are awful. My sons been kicked, pushed. Same with other kids. Bullying is horrible plus vapping a big issue. There is even a policeman in the school at all times. What I’m hearing the other schools round about are as bad. State school in Scotland. I dread my 10 year old going in a few years. She’s shy and timid. I’m loosing sleep already about it.

Good point

I wonder if the curriculum has something to do with it. The children are under a lot of pressure from the moment they arrive in reception. They're taught to read at the expense of play too early. Then the curriculum is just jam packed with subjects, with everything having to have a learning outcome. Sometimes kids just need to spend an afternoon doing some colouring in! Thank you Gove!
Then the behaviour crumbles so we have to fit in teaching them emotional regulation on top.
It's like constantly walking up a downwards escalator.