To think worsening behaviour in school is due to the size of children these days?

[gassenhauer]

Obviously not the only reason, almost definitely not the main one, but certainly a big one I think. I have siblings a good couple decades younger than me, at 11 my sister is 5’7 (apparently the lower end of avg. height in her year), 14 y/o brother 6’4, both overweight and massive. I’m 5’3.

I do find it hard to imagine how teachers would be able to break up fights, or even properly confront bad behaviour if a pupil that big is known to be aggressive. Surely this must impact?

Class size, yes. Physical size, no. It's obviously harder to manage a class of 38 children compared to a class of under 30 - ahh those were the days! The children's physical size makes no difference and I'm petite at 152cm.

I've seen some much smaller children be very aggressive where I would not want to step in to stop a fight (nor am I trained to do so) and some very large, docile children who wouldn't say boo to a goose.

I'm 5ft 9, never got into fights at school 🤷🏻‍♀️

of course, but defiance is something that needs to be challenged. As a teacher I’d be wary of challenging a student larger than me if I knew they would react physically (but then again that could well be why i’m not a teacher!)

You're 5ft 3, wouldn't most secondary students be taller than you....

WTAF?

Respect for teaching staff and anyone else in authority should be ingrained at an early age, and it just isn't happening.

Blindly respecting people in positions of authority when your a child isn't always the best thing to teach your dc imo.

Absolute nonsense. I've been a teacher for 27 years. I can't think of a single incidence of bad behaviour I've dealt with (and I've seen many), where the size of a student had a significant impact on my ability to deal with the incident. The vast, vast majority of behaviour incidents are not physical brawls. And in non-fight behaviour incidents, size is irrelevant. Large students are no more likely to cause trouble than small ones.

My children are small, slim and terribly behaved.

5’ 7” is not the lower end of average for an 11 year old! Why on early would you think it would be 🙄

Those fat kids causing all the trouble. I blame McDonalds. .

Don’t be ridiculous, 5ft 7 at age 11 is not the low end of average. DD was a similar height throughout year 6 and was one of the tallest in her cohort of 120. Most kids were significantly smaller than her.

My 12 year old son is 5"8 and is in the 91st centile.

Is it not that they just have different genes from you?

I'm 5"4 my eldest (adult) is 6"1. My father is 6"4.

Some of the little weasely ones are the worst tbh!

The secret is not to be intimidated. They're children after all. In a well managed school actual intimidation and real threat is rare. Not to say it doesn't happen but it definitely user the root behind behaviour problems in school. IMO the issue is just poor behaviour, determined to disrupt at any cost.

The underlying cause is that the over academic curriculum is just shit for a lot of children.

No, height is irrelevant. I was a secondary teacher for 33 years and Head of Year. I’m 5’ tall (could be blown over with a feather) but my confident, resolved, big personality and subject knowledge meant no one ever challenged me, including stroppy parents. I worked in state schools in a tough city. My discipline was rock solid which enabled sound, uninterrupted learning. They all knew my expectations and that I’d respond with lightning speed if they tried it on. I was totally committed and expected exactly the same from my students.

Oh dear. Nope that's not the reason.

Wait, wind back to the OP. Siblings, two decades younger, overweight, massive, apparently. Are these half siblings that you describe with such disdain? Might this be colouring your thoughts about behaviour in schools?

No the majority of the issues stem from parents moddy coddling there kids never saying no or teaching them manors and there little angels can do no wrong, oh and passing off bulling behaviour as just boys being boys or you know how kids can be attitude

I think it is definitely a factor and the diet they have has an influence too going into school loaded up on sugary cereal and energy drink, hyperactive with energy and then sugar crash which affects their mood and no doubt behaviour. Lunch time filling up on low quality carbs like chips and white bread which have a similar affect on blood sugar. Not enough fibre from lack of fruit and veg so potentially constipated or poor bowel movements making them angry or in pain too.

Absolutely ridiculous.

I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous. Behaviour isn’t correlated with weight/ height.

Size is not the issue. I'm a teacher and any teacher who depends on being able tp physically intimidate a student has lost any conflict before it even begins. It doesn't matter.

I've very, very rarely been physically attacked by students, and in every case it's been by students smaller than me. Nails and teeth, not fists.

Is this thread an alternate universe? Normally on MN, EVERYONE’S child is 95+ centile, except they’re never overweight, just extremely tall and athletic due to their superior genes and sporting prowess. Everyone’s 12 yo is at least 5ft9, and eats a whole joint of beef for dinner each night and a whole box of weetabix and two pints of milk for breakfast without ever having even an ounce of fat on them. So to see people having a go end accusing OP of lying about her 5ft7, year 7 niece, is hilarious 🤣.
whatever fits the narrative eh, MN?

search for ‘tall dc’ on here and you’ll see the posts I’m talking about .

The kids are usually sat down and the teacher is not.

It's not very often about physical intimidation.

My dd was one of the taller in her cohort at the end of primary / start of year 7. She wasn’t 5’7” at 11.

A friend's sister is a secondary school teacher. She was sexually assaulted by a male pupil a while back. It didn't get far, because he wasn't physically large or strong enough to overpower her. Had he been, things could have ended very differently ...

Teachers rarely get into physical confrontations with students. Their skills allow them to deflect, distract, calm etc. In a long career I only once had to sort out a physical fight between 17 yr olds. Verbal confrontations, now that’s another story.