The number of pupils suspended from school has reached a record high as experts warn that bad behaviour has increased as a result of lockdown school closures. The Telegraph has more.
Data from the Department for Education (DfE) found that there were 263,904 suspensions in the spring term during the 2022-23 academic year, an increase from 201,090 during the period the year before.
In the same term, there were 3,039 permanent exclusions, an increase from 2,179.
Academics warned that the “deeply concerning” increase was a result of pupils losing the habit of going to school during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A spokesman for the DfE said: “The most common reason for suspensions and permanent exclusions was persistent disruptive behaviour. This is in line with previous terms and years where this reason was the most commonly recorded.
“Suspensions are typically higher in autumn term than in spring and summer, so spring 2022-23 is a change from that trend and the highest recorded number of termly suspensions.”
The figures showed a 31% increase in suspensions compared to the previous year, the highest outside of Covid restrictions.
The rise was particularly high among secondary children, with cases increasing from 174,522 to 232,635 – a 33% jump and the equivalent of one in 16 pupils.
Prof. Alan Smithers, Director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, said: “The huge increases in suspensions and exclusions from school for disruptive behaviour is deeply concerning.
“It seems that far too many pupils lost the habit of regularly attending school during the pandemic and on being forced to return are taking it out on the teachers.
“Being thrown out of school not only harms the learning and future prospects of the pupils themselves, but also the behaviour leading to these drastic steps lowers the quality of education of other pupils.
“Disruptive pupil behaviour is the major reason given by teachers for quitting the profession. The Government must urgently address the decline in pupil behaviour.”
Worth reading in full.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
It’s not just lockdowns that have caused this, behaviour has been getting worse for years, it was bad enough when I was at comp in the 70s but now kids don’t give a toss about authority! They can have their phones and do what they want when they want, knowing there will be no punishment, no reprocussion for their actions, quite the opposite, they will be rewarded for “being themselves”
It’s completely down to the individual child as to wether they want to learn and be successful, or just do bugger all and rely on the state!
Discipline is a long forgotten thing of the past, God help the future!
Parents these days are just incubators and the kids are the property of the state, born into shackles to become a citizen of Wefworld !
Agreed, Dings. I’m getting a bit sick of lockdowns ( despite their known damaging effects ) being consistently blamed for ongoing bad behaviour in kids, with seemingly no focus on the responsibilities of the schools or the parents in this. It’s like blaming lockdowns ad nauseam automatically lets both the schools and the parents off the hook, but the truth is both of these are failing kids. Also, does this apply to all schools, such as the now famous Michaela school, below. This is a couple days old so no idea what amount of signatures we’re up to now. With parents like these who needs enemies? The kids are not alright;
”There has now been 4000 signatures from intimidatory Muslims to have Katherine Birbalsingh fired
– Bricks thrown at school window.
– Teachers have been threatened.
– Racist abuse at teachers.
This aggressive intimidation by parts of the British Muslim community needs to stop. Now.
Remember the Batley school teacher?
But not just in schools. On our democracy.
We are seeing it all over the country. Council meetings, MPs houses surrounded, MPs offices burnt down, rape threats and death threats to MPs kids and families.
It’s not what this country is about.
What an inspiration Mrs Birbalsingh is to keep on fighting and not backing down against this violence and aggression.”
https://twitter.com/KosherCockney/status/1780558944697454931
You describe the situation a lot better than I can, spot on👍
I’d like to know the numbers by gender. I think this is likely to be little to do with lockdown, and almost entirely a result of boys pushing back against being endlessly told their worthless human beings that should be embarrassed about masculinity and need to be more like girls. I’ve noticed an increase in poor behaviour amongst young lads myself of late. They’re rejecting the feminist attack on them, but doing so by being what they think is ultra-masculine, which, sadly, is them thinking they need to behave like a complete arsehole. This was, however, all very predictable.
Agreed, the further we removed ourselves from our natural origins, based in nature and biology, the more likely it is that the human race will become the ‘new AI’
Did these same experts oppose lockdowns, oppose school closures and warn of this at the time? I must have missed that…
Sorry but the same “experts” will all be signed up to the Liberal Progressive Virus, where punishment and discipline are dirty words. —These mamby pamby Liberals all read “Lord of the Flies” at school and are determined to bring that anti civilisation clutter to our children, and over the last 30 years they have certainly succeeded in turning them into a bunch of pampered brats full of their own self importance. ——-I once received 6 of the strap for not putting brown paper on my text book. Now I don’t suggest we keep thrashing children, but the problem is that nothing has replaced the belt, and the tables have now turned the other way around where the children now thrash the teachers.
Well Fishy and his overlords must be delighted with this remarkable upsurge in suspensions and exclusions. The outlook for society in general is grim if these issues are not addressed. Basically, we now have in excess of a quarter of a million dysfunctional, ill-educated and feral teenagers who will probably never hold a job down and who will inevitably become disruptors to society.
The Tories must be remarkably proud if their successes in tearing apart British society.
Agenda 2030 coming along nicely.
“The Government must urgently address the decline in pupil behaviour.”
Pupil behaviour is not the responsibility of the Government. Although they bear significant responsibility for it’s decline in the past few years.
It’s the responsibility of the pupil; their parents; their teachers and their headmaster.
There’s not too much bad behaviour at Katherine Birbalsingh’s school.
I expect many of these disruptive children see no connection between education, work and “getting on in life” because there is no example to follow in their families.
And others have worked out that even if they work hard they will never get a decent job (partly because of where they live), let alone be able to afford to buy a house.
Lockdown radically disrupted long established good habits such as self-discipline and taking personal responsibility. Moreover, during lockdown authority figures generally proved themselves to be lazy, corrupt, dishonest, hypocritical, and mean. School leaders were particularly appalling specimens. They are reaping what they sowed.