Posted on 07/16/2026 6:49:45 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Student violence in many of our nation’s schools is out of control. An Education Week teacher survey, whose results were released in March, found that 35 percent of respondents said classroom behavior was “a lot worse” than last year. It’s not just children fighting with each other; teachers are often on the receiving end of assaults.
Examples of student violence against teachers are common. In southern California, as reported by the Long Beach Post in June, a Carver Elementary School teacher left school with “major purple marks” after students hit, pinched, bit, and scratched her.
In an explosive moment, one child headbutted her so hard that part of her vision went dark. She went to the emergency room and learned she had an eye injury that permanently altered her eyesight, causing floating dots and flashing lights.
Near Boston, a Roxbury teacher asked an eighth grader to pay attention—and was punched, leaving multiple bruises. A nurse at a Dorchester school sustained a concussion and a pinched nerve after being attacked by a student.
Nationwide, surveys indicate that 6 percent to 10 percent of U.S. K-12 teachers are physically attacked by students each year, and an additional 10 percent to 45 percent experience verbal threats or harassment.
While the problem is currently garnering significant media attention, it is not new. A 2014 survey by the American Psychological Association Classroom Violence Directed Against Teachers Task Force found that a stunning 44 percent of educators declared that students physically attacked them. More than half of the surveyed educators reported that pupils destroyed personal property (computers, cars, phones, etc.).
What is the reason for the rampant violence?
Many teachers say parental support is key and that parents need to do a better job of reining in their kids.
While soft or neglectful parenting is certainly part of the problem, schools must also accept responsibility. In that vein, about 50 percent of educators said that tougher consequences for students, such as expulsions, are needed. Unfortunately, many schools don’t pursue that approach.
Administrators’ response has weakened, many teachers explain, because they have to go through eight or nine steps before they can even consider sending the kid to the office.
Also, many schools still use the discredited—and teacher union-supported—restorative justice procedure. This racially motivated, 50-year-old regimen emphasizes “making the victim and offender whole” and involves “an open discussion of feelings.” It arose in the 1970s because black students were far more likely to be suspended than those of other ethnicities. The implication, of course, is that white teachers and administrators tend to be racist. But the racial bean counters never explain why the racial disparity persists even in schools where black principals and staff predominate.
In addition, the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) approach, also supported by the two national teachers’ unions, remains widely used. This system, a touchy-feely, new-age idea from the 1990s, aims to create a “framework for creating safe, positive, equitable schools, where every student can feel valued, connected to the school community, and supported by caring adults.”
The practitioners claim that by applying “evidence-based practices within a PBIS framework, schools promote students’ academic, social, emotional, and behavioral success, collaborate with families to develop locally meaningful and culturally relevant outcomes, and use data to make informed decisions that enhance overall effectiveness.”
But PBIS has not helped. Neetu Arnold, a policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute, recently wrote, “When I began asking teachers about PBIS, I heard no shortage of complaints. Educators described how it drove disruptive classrooms, undermined their authority, and made effective teaching nearly impossible. Yet when I spoke with PBIS trainers and reviewed official materials, the disconnect was striking: trainers insisted that the teacher accounts didn’t reflect the structured framework they endorsed.”
Student suspensions, a longtime disciplinary measure, are looked down upon these days. In fact, California prohibits suspensions for low-level misbehavior, such as willful disobedience. Similarly, Massachusetts sets prerequisites for suspensions, directing administrators not to suspend pupils as a consequence until alternative remedies have been tried and documented. In practice, this makes suspension a last resort rather than a baseline tool for classroom management.
Suspensions don’t always work, however. When I taught middle school in the 1990s and 2000s, I found that suspending an out-of-control student made it easier to teach willing learners, but it didn’t always improve the miscreant’s behavior. Upon their return to class after a suspension, I always asked the disruptors how they spent their time out of school. All too often, the reply was a shrug, followed by “Watched TV.” In those cases, it was hardly an effective punishment.
My school, however, was fortunate to have Mr. Thomas as the school’s guidance counselor and discipline dean. He was a former Marine drill sergeant, and his approach was old-school. When misbehaving students were sent to him, he would make them stand facing the front of the room for an hour or two without speaking. He also kept the room a few degrees warmer than necessary. This discouraged pupils from engaging in antisocial behavior when they were threatened with a visit to Mr. Thomas. But few schools have ex-military personnel in the counseling office.
As a result of the upsurge in student violence, many teachers are considering leaving the profession. About 20 percent of educators across the U.S. said they plan to leave their jobs before school starts in the fall, according to June data from the Rand Corp.’s 2026 State of the American Teacher and the American Life Panel surveys. Misbehaving students are cited as the top stressor.
In Wisconsin, teacher resignations are at an all-time high, with students’ disorderly behavior cited as a top reason.
The problem is particularly acute in California, where a recent survey found that 40 percent of teachers plan to retire or quit in the next 10 years, with many citing declining behavioral standards as the primary reason.
In sum, schools must do a better job of disciplining disruptive and violent students. Both offenders and well-behaved students aren’t being properly educated. Additionally, many teachers are fed up and are leaving the profession.
Indicative of the ongoing collapse of our society. The evil teacher unions who insisted on ruining our educational system have a lot to answer for when they stand before God. Hopefully, the individuals involved will have repented before that happens, though, God forgive me, I almost wish they would get what they deserve, instead of mercy. Thanks be to God, if we repent of our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. How many of them avail themselves of that mercy, we’ll have to wait for Judgement Day to know.
Me neither. Bring back swats at the principal’s office. And, well, somebody’s got to say it segregation.
Not really an implication; more of an underlying ideological belief that is not supported by evidence. In fact, the evidence suggests the opposite: that black students, for whatever reason, are more prone to antisocial and criminal behavior.
> The evil teacher unions who insisted on ruining our educational system… <
Permit me to jump in. As I noted elsewhere, I’m a retired urban public school teacher.
Are teacher unions evil? You betcha. No doubt about it. These days teacher unions are part of the radical wing of the Democrat party. And nothing more.
But here’s the thing. The unions have nothing to do with what’s being taught in public schools today. The courses of study are set by the local school boards and sometimes by the state.
The unions also have nothing to do with the decline in school discipline. Again, discipline rules are set by the local school boards and sometimes by the state.
And one more thing. Teachers pretty much represent a cross-section of the local political scene. Liberals, conservatives, and everything in between.
But the union leadership is 100% liberal. How can that be? Well, I could tell you union election stories that would make Stalin blush.
Agreed. Breakdown in our society across the board.
The union leaders have learned from the NGOs that the worse the problems get, the more jobs and federal funds they can DEMAND — so why should the problems get better?
We need to adopt results-oriented jobs and funding so these problems disappear — rather than the union leaders, NGOs, government workers just getting fatter.
Voucher the schools. Let parents who will discipline kids, accept discipline from the schools, limit tv time and monitor homework tranfer their kids to schools that maintain order and standards.
Public schools would either clean up their acts pretty quickly or be emptied of all educable students. Good teachers would be recruited away by schools that actually allowed them to teach.
The public schools that don’t straighten up would remain zoos.
What happens to the zoo graduates when they leave school? Impose work standards for able bodied recipients of all public assistance. Once the free ride stops, people will be forced to change their behavior. Or die in the gutter.
Violent behaviors by students towards teachers is nothing new - its been going on for decades.
I think EX MILITARY people should get the degrees they need to TEACH while still in the military so that they can go into ESPECIALLY INNER CITY SCHOOL and TEACH the SUBJECT WHILE ALSO TEACHING DISIPLINE!! Most of these kids are not only ignorant, but FERAL!
“How can we turn them into Commie trannies if they don’t sit still?”
I’m hoping the socialist soon-to-be mayor of DC will set up youth social re-education camps…
One of the city schools where I taught had a Junior ROTC program. It was run by a retired Army major, and was very successful.
But it was successful only because the major had the power to remove disruptive students from the program.
Now let’s suppose that this major was teaching a regular class instead, say algebra. He would NOT be able to remove disruptive students from his class. And that’s because he’d have no more power than any other teacher.
So sadly, he’d be no more successful than any other teacher.
By the way, it’s not like in the movies. A tough guy approach might work there. But not in real city schools. You have students there who have committed multiple felonies. Some are psychopaths. Act the drill sergeant, and they’d just laugh at you.
It’s a very sad situation all around.
Students did the same thing in Maoist China. They were in control, not the adults. This only ends one of two ways and neither is pretty or desired - but inevitable.
OMG......how Negative can you be. No wonder we are in the mess we are in......WE CAN’T isn’t anyway to go thru life.
I work in a public high school in a rural area, in the middle of SC. The principal of this school was just demoted (a neighboring district snatched him up before he could sign a new contract) because he told the superintendent his job was to make sure the teachers and students had a safe working environment. This superintendent got it written into his contract he was the sole hearing officer regarding students put up for expulsion. In the last 5 years the principal put up for expulsion over 20 students. They all had attacked, threatened to attack, or brought weapons into the school. Every single one of them had their expulsions overturned. The local sheriff and the principal came up with a plan of their own and through their teamwork the students were not allowed to step foot on any school property. This coming year there is a new principal and no one knows how he is going to react to student violence.
Effects of PBIS on Attendance and Behavior Outcomes: The Impact of the Missouri Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support (SW-PBS) Initiative
Numerous years of descriptive data and a recent peer-reviewed research article both show the positive effects of implementation on social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes for all students, including students with disabilities.
relationships change behavioiur but that is tough
When I was in sixth grade in Arizona back in the day (which was then in elementary school), I was first elected class president.
But then a 14-year-old delinquent came into the class, straight from reform school. He took over, and the entire class fell into chaos. I was bullied, as were several others. The male teacher lost control, and several students began wearing hats and acting disruptive. My mother came in to see the principal.
Eventually, the 14-year-old was removed from the class, and a special female disciplinarian came to the school. She threatened to follow us into junior high, and go after us if we made any trouble. But I never heard anything from her.
In 2026, discipline and learning must be re-established in all K-12 schools—even if it requires hiring principals with military backgrounds! Mobile phones must be outlawed, and students must be made to learn to read, write, do math, science, history, civics, etc. Advanced classes must be offered in higher grades.
Students will hate those who took their mobile phones away, but they will thank them later!
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