I don't know what's gotten into the kids at the middle school, but they've gone crazy this week. I had over two dozen discipline referrals to process this afternoon and ended up staying late to work on them. I enter all the suspensions, detentions, expulsions, etc into a large spreadsheet each day and send it out to the whole staff (so they'll know where the kids who are in trouble are the next day when they take attendance). I also set up automated calls each evening for parents who need to be notified that their kid got in trouble and also that they are required to come to the school for a conference. The upshot of all this is that every single discipline referral gets sent to me for processing, so I know about all of the bad behaviors in the school!
Usually there's only a scattered few referrals to deal with each day, but this week has been insane! Today alone there were about thirty incidents. And to give you an idea of what most of them have been like lately, here are 3 random examples from today:
Kid #1: Raised his hand at the teacher as if to backhand her across the face....because she was calling him down for something.
Kid #2: Gave his teacher "the finger" when she grilled him about his missing homework.
Kid #3: Her gym teacher told her to hand over her cell phone (they're not supposed to have them out) until the end of class. She threw it at him.
These are just the "minor" behavior problems that came up today. There were a couple of very bad fights (between girls, no less!) and other things that were more serious.
BUT.......can you believe the nerve of these little sh*ts?!!!!
I would have feared for my life if I had treated a teacher like that when I was 13 or 14 years old! I'm stunned at these kinds of behaviors. I'm not sure why things have gotten so wild since we got back from spring break, but the experienced staff and teachers tell me that this is common. I'm so glad I'm not a teacher! I get to read about the wild things that happen, but I don't have to deal with it directly. Teachers don't get paid nearly what they're worth!
Same here. I can't imagine doing that to anyone when I was young. Has it been very windy? Full moon?
ReplyDeleteI used to find that changes in the weather and air pressure could influence fluctuations in behaviour. However, having a president who is himself prone to unseemly behaviour does not help.
ReplyDeleteI agree with YP in that our (gulp) president's behavior is a terrible thing for children to model. And NO, teachers do not get paid nearly enough.
ReplyDeleteThis kind of behaviour has been going on for quite some time although President Trump and many in Congress are not helping.
ReplyDeleteWhen my children were in Middle School ( they are in their 30's now ) it was about half and half of of good to bad behaviour. They followed their parents lead with awful behaviour. They knew how much they could get away with and how much their parents really do not care. I often wonder why these people had children ? When I helped out in the school office I really could not believe what came out of the parents mouths.
And YES the teacher do not get paid enough for the what they do.
cheers, parsnip
I think kids go nuts when spring arrives, but the behavior gets worse all the time. When I tried teaching high school, I couldn't believe how many of the students had already been in jail or juvenile detention. Of course, I didn't last long. Too many kids threatened to beat me up because I enforced the rules and I had no support from the administration. Parents certainly weren't notified, so it sounds as if your school has a good system.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
I've only taught in private boarding schools, where the children were all well behaved, and we had control over their diets. I'm sure that diet has a lot to do with behaviour; your kids are probably eating chemical filled junk. I know it's not as simple as that; they're probably watching violent TV as well.
ReplyDeleteI was going to say that the content of TV/films and computer games is very different these days to a few generations ago, Cro got there first! Even my grandkids aged 7 and 5 play a game called " Crossy Road" where the characters get run down by traffic/ trains and fall into rivers to be "killed"
ReplyDeleteThat's the sort of behaviour that went on in my school.
ReplyDeleteI'd say "spring fever" but I never knew spring fever to produce demon spawn. You're right about "little shits."
ReplyDeleteI have teacher friends and they all hate teaching Middle School.
ReplyDeleteIt's spring fever!
ReplyDeleteI cannot imagine a kid giving "the finger" to his teacher. On the other hand, I can imagine that the "backhanding" kid meant it as a funny gesture, kind of a slapstick thing -- though certainly not appropriate when talking to a teacher!
Teachers aren't supported at all levels. Not enough materials, classes too large, low pay.Thank you for your support! Middle school is the worst! For three years in middle school, Laura was bullied to despair. She spent the last two months in the hospital; she had been bullied to attempted suicide. This age level is where it happens.
ReplyDeleteThat is shocking behavior. I am long out of the loop, but it would pollute the whole learning environment when kids show such disrespect!
ReplyDelete