An increase in school violence impacts teachers and students nationwide

Anya Biswas, Staff Writer & Milly Miao Staff Writer

School violence has always been prevalent, but reported incidents have increased post-pandemic. This trend of increased school violence is not only limited to Fulton County but is apparent nationally across America as well. 

In the years leading up to the pandemic, school violence decreased. The National Center for Educational Statistics reported that high school students’ participation in physical fights decreased from 31% in 2009 to 22% in 2019. But after the pandemic, reports revealed that 46% of schools saw a rise in fighting and threats between students, and 56% of schools reported frequent disruptions due to student misconduct. This sudden spike in violence led many to infer that the pandemic was the cause of the increase in school violence.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution stated there were double the expulsions last school year compared to the years before the pandemic. The root of this is that schools teach students social skills and boundaries. For some families, the isolation and difficulties faced during the pandemic drastically changed their students’ daily environment. This magnified their stress levels and challenged students’ day-to-day interactions with peers, both online and in-person.  

“People talk to people online, and then they'll argue. But, whereas you'll see them in person, you're gonna yell at them in person the next day, you can't do that. So you get angry and angrier to the point where you want to fight,” junior Sammeer Shalim said.

Northview assistant principal Marissa Disano emphasizes the lack of socialization the pandemic caused and its impact on students. Since students learned online over the pandemic, many lack the discipline and camaraderie fostered through in-person schooling. Slowly adjusting back to the school environment these past two years proved to be challenging. 

“Going into COVID, students were at home and weren't hanging out where [people] have typically hung out in [social] situations,” Disano said. “I think it's been harder for students to come back and get back into that groove of those social norms posts COVID.” 

The magnitude of this issue extends beyond Northview and now plagues schools across the country. Dr. Morcease J. Beasley, Clayton County Superintendent, said that Clayton County Schools have seen a 200% increase in school fights in the first four weeks alone. But school violence affects more than just students-- it impacts teachers and staff and puts schools’ learning environments at risk.  

“I think [the violence] interferes with all students as far as their learning. Because a disturbance, within the classroom or hallways, interrupts [a student’s] learning session,” said James Newman, the campus security officer at Northview. “[The disturbance also impacts] students involved [in these acts of violence], which depending on the severity of the situation, [the student] may be expelled or suspended. That’s going to interfere with them long term as well.”

In order to curb this increase, schools are taking a variety of actions. Fulton County has implemented policies to increase the punishments for students who record and post school fights on social media, hoping to deescalate the gravity of school fights and deter any future occurrences. 

“There's a lot of rules and policies that [schools implement to] try to make students aware of [the consequences], but most people are not thinking about [it] when they [act violently],” said Northview principal Martin Neuhaus. “We're not interested in punishing, I just want students to feel more connected to [the] school [and] to each other.”