‘Breaking Point’: Teachers Beg For Help As Post-Pandemic Classroom Violence Spirals

Teachers in Modesto, California are begging their school district to institute changes to behavior policies as students are becoming increasingly violent since returning to school after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The teachers association for Modesto City Schools (MCS) confronted the district’s school board on Monday armed with photos of destroyed classrooms to voice their distress that the violence and chaos overtaking classrooms made it near impossible for them to do their jobs. Teachers said they have been bitten, kicked and cursed at, and said other students were scared, according to CBS News.

“If there’s no consistency and there’s no reinforcement, then your classroom becomes chaos,” Jennifer McGrath, president of the Modesto Teachers Association, told CBS. “Some things have to change so that we can start educating again.”

McGrath said that policies instituted during the time students began returning to school following the pandemic were aimed more toward keeping students in school rather than disciplining them. (WATCH: Virginia Teens Plead Directly With Voters To End Boys-In-Girls Bathrooms Agenda)

“When COVID hit and the students were isolated, coming back to school was not easy, and the district had to do a lot of quick fixes to get these kids to come back,” McGrath said. “What’s been happening is they get counseled, and then they would come back with a bag of chips, or they would come back with a juice box or a prize. That’s rewarding them for their bad behavior.”