Violence rises as schools reopen in US

Schools in the United States are dealing with a rise in violence and misbehavior, with students threatening teachers and gun violence increasing as children return to classrooms after pandemic disruptions.

Some children appear sad, aggressive and are acting out after being away from school for so long, said school resource officers and teachers who deal with them daily.

"I think it's very clear that this has been the case," Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers, told China Daily. "We seem to be seeing a lot more issues around mental health, challenges that we hadn't seen previously, and certainly a rise in a level of violence."

NASRO has trained school-based law enforcement officers and school administrators to protect schools, students, faculty and staff since 1991. Canady estimates there are 25,000 to 30,000 SROs in schools nationwide.

Around 2 out of 3 schoolteachers, principals and district leaders said they have seen students acting worse than in the same period in 2019, according to a monthly EdWeek Research Center survey.

It was conducted from Dec 15 to 29 and surveyed 725 teachers, 199 principals and 286 district leaders.

In districts where children had been taking part in remote learning in 2020 and 2021, 51 percent of teachers and district leaders said they had seen more students threatening violence. But that figure fell to 30 percent in districts where students were instructed in person.

At least 44 percent of school officials reported receiving more threats of violence by students than in 2019.

McKinley High School in Buffalo, New York, had a shooting and a stabbing in its parking lot on Feb 9.

Grim past

The victims were a 14-year-old student who was stabbed 10 times and is still in hospital, and a security guard who was shot in the leg as he rushed to help. Two 17-year-olds have been arrested, and both were students at the school.

Local community group Buffalo Peacemakers Violence and Gang Intervention Program will support youth in the school with mentoring and counseling to prevent more violence.

Gun violence is also plaguing schools nationwide. The first half of the 2021-22 school year had the most gun violence in recent history, according to figures compiled by nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety.

There were 136 incidents of gunfire on school premises between Aug 1 and Dec 31. At least 26 people were killed and 96 wounded, making it the highest number of gun incidents and people shot in the five-month period since 2013.

US schools have seen horrific incidents of mass shootings since the 1990s.

Families of nine victims of one of the worst school shootings in US history－Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut－reached a $73 million settlement on Tuesday in a lawsuit against Remington Arms, the company that made the rifle used in the 2012 shooting.