Did The Pandemic Make Classrooms More Violent? Study Finds Teachers Feel More Threatened By Students

Teachers have grown more fearful of their students after a series of violent incidents directed at them in the classroom. According to a new study by the American Psychological Association (APA), the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic may be to blame.

On Thursday, the APA published findings from a new study that found surveys of nearly 15,000 teachers, administrators, psychologists, social workers and other school staff members across the country also found that more than 40% of school administrators reported verbal or threatening violence from students during the 2020-21 school year.

A number of these cases have been particularly violent, involving physical attacks or students throwing objects at teachers and other school staff.

More recently, there have been a number of notable instances where teachers and other school personnel have been badly hurt by their students. On Feb. 14, a Texas coach was chased and assaulted by a group of students after he refused to allow them to ride dirt bikes on the school premises. On March 8, a teacher in south Florida was hospitalized after being attacked by a 5-year old student who physically assaulted her.

The APA study posited that the violence from the students is the result of the months of isolation and learning interruption that has had an adverse effect on children and teenagers' behavior.

“I think you have some unique issues that have come up through the pandemic that have been especially overwhelming for educators,” said Susan Dvorak McMahon, a professor of psychology at DePaul University and the chair of the APA's Task Force on Violence Against Educators.

The APA's survey found that 22% of school staff members reported that they had experienced physical acts of violence in the school setting during the year. As a consequence, 29% to 34% of staff have reported interest in a desire to quit their job to escape the stress.

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, school officials nationwide have been confronted with an array of challenges. School officials have been locked in contentious feuds with state legislators over mask and vaccination mandates.

At the same time, teachers and school board members have faced verbal and physical threats from angry parents opposed to these mandates or politically contentious topics like the teaching of critical race theory in classrooms.

The APA is looking to present its findings to the Department of Education and members of Congress.