The survey gave a snapshot into the various challenges educators face with school climate and student behavior. (Photo by Nikada/iStock Getty Images)
A survey among more than a thousand educators found that one in three are worried about receiving a physical injury from a student, while 20 percent have been injured from a student.
The report was shown to the 24-member Student Behavior and School Climate Task Force Monday night, which is made of government and educational officials as well as school behavioral specialists and resource officers.
It was conducted by the Delaware State Education Association (DSEA) and presented by Taylor Hawk, the group’s director of legislative and political strategy.
The survey was done in July and included teachers, support staff, specialists and others.
“What we found is nothing that will surprise anyone at this table,” Hawk said. “We are in the middle of a crisis when it comes to educator retention and working conditions.”
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The majority of respondents have experienced each of the following: verbal outbursts by students significantly disrupt learning, chronic absenteeism (missing 10% or more of school days in a year), had items destroyed/damaged by students, and verbal aggression/threats made by a student.
Three in four experienced verbal outbursts from students.
Hawk pointed out that this has just as much impact on other students as it does on teachers – a majority of teachers say they lose at least six hours of instruction time per month due to behavioral disruptions.
Lost instruction time is highest at the middle school level, the survey showed.
All this is making more teachers question their future in the profession, with the majority saying the behavioral challenges make them more likely to leave.
Food and housing instability within the family as well as technology and social media are two factors survey respondents felt contribute to the problem.
Another DSEA official pointed out how it’s hard for students to learn and stay well behaved if they’re focused on their hunger or other life challenges out of their control.
But, social and mental health challenges as well as other challenges at home were the most cited contributions, with 78% of respondents agreeing that those two are factors to the misbehavior.
Educators also believe lack of support for student discipline by parents and administration perpetuates the issue, even though a majority of educators themselves have tried outreach strategies to parents and counselors/psychologists.
Several members of the task force said the survey is in line with what they’ve heard in private conversations with teachers.
Others said that it’s usually a few students causing a lot of these issues, not the majority of students.
Kelly Shahan, director of transportation at Red Clay Consolidated School District, said these same issues exist on buses, where one adult bus driver is responsible for dozens of students.
The idea of secondhand trauma was also discussed, and how when teachers listen to and try to help students with their personal problems at home, they take in some of that trauma.
Here are the five solutions the survey provided, to which many of the task force members agreed with:
- Reducing class sizes
- Increasing administrative support for discipline
- Building or district-level cell phone policies
- Co-teaching requirements based on the number of students with IEPs
- Hiring more mental health professionals and freeing up their time to support students
The task force’s next meeting is Oct. 7 at 4 p.m. Watch it here.
Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
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