Post Covid violence in school has been on the rise. Most in part due to the social anxiety created by unreasonable and harmful Covid isolation policies, as well as the the unwillingness to discipline under the euphemism of “Restorative Justice”.
At the December, 2021 BSD school board meeting, a mother reads aloud a letter of concern written by a BSD student who wished to remain annonymous due to fear of retaliation.
The mother then describes the violence observed by her own children within the Brandywine school district.
Good evening. I am reading this on behalf of a Brandnewine high school student that wishes to remain nameless.
“I am a current upperclass student at BHS. I have been a student pre and post COVID. Since we have gone back to school, the violence and disruptions have become commonplace. Any school on any given day may have a fight. They are happening at Brandywine, Concord and Mount. Even some of the middle schools.
There are social media pages dedicated to the fights at each high school.
Items are coming into school that in the realworld are seen as weapons but are not punishable as weapons according to our code of conduct. We talk about this at student council meetings, during practice, in our classes, with our teachers.
We are tired and so are the teachers and staff. Some of us are scared when a fightbreaks out in a bathroom or locker room that is unsupervised. The majority of us just want to cometo school and get through the day. Why is our education suffering for a few students that do not have the same desires?”
So I would like to piggyback off of this by saying that I am the parent of two current BSD students and one that graduated last year. I hear these same conversations from my kids and their friends. My middle school student has been locked in her classroom several times this year for her safety while the teachers attempts to break up a fight right outside the classroom door, completely disrupting that class and setting a tone for the day of concern.
This is not a suitable learning environment for any student. I have talked with administration that go home injured afterbreaking up fights and with staff that are working numbers to see if they can make it financially if they retire early, even if it means working a part time job that they are overqualified for. We are losing good teachers that we can not afford to lose. I have met with the administration and pledged my support in any way that may help make school a little safer.
We need more parents to come forward and do the same. We need consequences in place and enforce
that teachers, I'm sorry, that teach students that this behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We also need those writing the code of conduct back to the drawing board that is truly aimed at the safety, well being, and strong education of all students.
