“Why do young people misbehave in school?

Why young people misbehave in school is an increasingly relevant issue that many

educators are faced with today. Understanding the various contributing factors that

influence the misbehavior of young people is vital if we are to understand their

behaviour. This literature review will assess and appraise current research articles

and their findings on why young people misbehave in school whilst also comparing

and contrasting these results with opinions found from several interviews taken

from a small cross section of people. Exploring a range of factors that influence the

behaviour of young people (such as social interactions, expectations, discipline) we

will be able to gain a greater understanding of why young people misbehave. This

will also allow us to recognize the need for any further study in a particular area

whilst also giving us insight into the relevant themes seen across studies.

Section 1

Examining the varying social aspects young people are faced with can give us

relevant insight into why they misbehave. Crawshaw (2015) explores the perceptions

of Secondary teachers and their view on misbehaving students and the common

trend seen amongst various schools. A major influence of student misbehaviour

seemed to be connected to the transitional process of moving from primary to

secondary school. The changing nature of numerous expectations from different

teachers throughout the day coupled with the larger, more impersonal teacher

focused schools can be seen as contributing factors in student misbehaviour

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(Crawshaw, 2015). This insight gives us a view that only teachers may be privy to

and gives us relevant information into the social schooling aspect of students and

how it can negatively affect them.

Parker, Paget, Ford & Gwernan-Jones (2016) researched the opinions of parents in

why their children acted out and found that exclusion was a major determinant of

student misbehaviour. This study was predominately aimed at primary aged

students (5-12 years old) and described exclusion in two ways; as peer exclusion in

the playground and classroom exclusion in activities. Exclusion was seen to leave

lasting emotional and functional effects on young people with varying responses

from students and commonly caused misbehaviour. This study also highlighted the

impact of parent interaction with schools and how student misbehaviour can be

linked with the absence of parents informing schools of special needs for their child

(Parker et al, 2016). This article highlights how negative social interactions in the

playground and the classroom can negatively influence student behaviour.

Analysing the increasing prevalence of ‘zero tolerance policies’ in schools which lead

to a greater number of expulsions and punishments can also help us gain an

understanding into the cause of student misbehavior (Peguero & Bracy, 2015).

Peguero & Bracy (2015) show that students who are subjected to harsher forms of

school discipline are sometimes set on a path which leads to educational

disengagement, failure and further misbehavior in the future. Whilst the intent of

stricter levels of discipline may be to increase student wellbeing, it may inadvertently

be fostering an environment where students more commonly misbehave. Similarly,

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to the link between harsh discipline at school and misbehaviour is a link between

harsh discipline at home and misbehaviour. Flouri & Midouhas (2017) recognized

that harsh physical or verbal punishment is also an influential risk factor of

misbehaviour in children. The general consensus being here that harsher and stricter

forms of discipline/punishment seem to cause and, in some cases, worsen behaviour

problems in children at home and in school (Flourni & Midouhas, 2017). This helps us

understand why student misbehave at school and the factors that parents and

teachers play in this role.

Examining the influence peers have on one another is also relevant when assessing

why young people misbehave. Salee’s (2000) article explored the students

conceptions on why they and their peers misbehave in class. A common trend found

that peers heavily influenced student misbehaviour, recognising that if parts of the

group misbehaved the rest would be more likely to follow. This article also found

that boredom played a role in student misbehaviour, with many students stating

that if the lesson kept their interest they were less likely to misbehave and in fact

positively interact within the lesson (Salee, 2000). Analysing student’s opinions on

why they misbehave can provide relevant information and insight into the causes

and reasons of student misbehaviour and should not be overlooked. Further study in

this area could be beneficial and provide greater insight.

Section 2

Six interviews were conducted in various locations (university library, houses, cafes)

with ethical protocols being followed for all interviews. All interviewees read and

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signed a consent form and understood the nature of the interview and that their

identity would remain anonymous. An initial question was posed to each person “In

your opinion, why do young people misbehave in school?” and the conversation was

prompted and continued depending on responses. Notes were taken by the

interviewer (me) during the interviews and there was no digital recording of the

interviews.

The interviewees were:

Person A: Male, 47, Pre-Service Teacher

B: Male, 60, Parent, Mechanic

C: Female, 58, Parent, Nurse

D: Male, 32, Primary School Teacher

E: Female, 21, Student/Dog groomer

F: Male, 26, Corporate Consultant

Throughout the process of the interviews several themes were recognized and

categorized into three groupings; Parents, Students and Teachers. For every

interviewee who named one of these categories as an influence into negative

student behaviour I asked follow up questions and took notes on their answers. I will

highlight and describe the three categories here and make note of how each

interviewee responded. (These are just the main points from each interviewee, as

there is not enough room to detail all interviewee’s responses/opinions).

Parents:

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Person A, D and F all claimed that parents play a pivotal role in the misbehaviour of

young people. Person A believed that a lack of parental involvement with their

children caused them to be ‘wayward’ and lacking role models. Person D said that

many parents may be negative role models for their children and whilst they may

have plenty of interactions with them, they are still negative examples for their

children. Person F believed that many parents poorly disciplined their children or

didn’t appropriately discipline them throughout their childhood. The main theme

being recognized here is that parents are not providing enough support for their

children and aren’t guiding them throughout their childhood. However, it is worth

recognising that all three interviewees here were not parents themselves.

Students (the children themselves)

Person A, B and C all claimed that students were predominantly responsible for their

poor behaviour at school. Person A believed that students often misbehaved at

school as a means of seeking attention. Person A’s response here is somewhat based

off the assumption he previously stated that there is a common lack of parental

involvement in students’ lives which leads to this attention seeking behaviour.

Person B believed that students acted out in class because they didn’t know what

they were doing, or they were bored by the content/teacher. Person C believe that

social interactions with peers played a large role in misbehaviour and that emotional

immaturity causes a lot of misbehaviour amongst young people. From this we are

able to see that there are lots of mitigating factors which influence each of these

opinions and that not all of these onions are applicable to all students. Many of

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these opinions were anecdotal and maybe based off the presumption that students

don’t want to be at school.

Teachers

Person B, C, E all believed that teacher influence had a large role in student

misbehaviour. Person B believed that teachers are ill equipped/ trained to deal with

the overwhelming number of students and as a result of this students get bored or

aren’t engaged and misbehave. Person C stated that teachers don’t organize enough

strategies or care enough about their students to effectively cater for all of them.

Person E suggested that too much was expected of teachers and there is no way

they are able to cater for such a large and diverse array of students. A common trend

here is the expectation placed upon teachers and the numerous roles they have fill.

Section 3

Analysing the results found from the interview process and comparing them with the

data found from literature reviews we are able to see several similarities. Firstly,

there was a similarity in both interviewee’s responses and literature review findings

in recognising the role discipline has in young people’s behaviour. Peguero & Bracy

(2015) showed that harsher forms of discipline are linked to misbehaviour in young

people as well as Person F recognising that lack of appropriate discipline methods

also contribute to misbehaviour. However, Person F may have been referring to the

lack of discipline and not the severity of discipline used, which would be a relevant

discrepancy in the similarity. A personal contextual factor (such as how he was

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disciplined) may also shape Person F’s opinion here and be the cause of this

difference.

Another commonality we can see is the role that social interaction or peer influence

has in student misbehaviour. Salee (2000) explored how peer influence caused

students to misbehave. Person C had a similar view in that the social interactions

peers had in class played a large role in in misbehaviour. Person C’s interactions as a

student may shape this opinion and may be the reason for this similarity.

Several contrasts can also be seen when examine these responses and findings.

None of the interviewee’s recognized the transitional changes students have to go

through and how these changes might affect their behaviour. Crawshaw (2015) did

however, highlight the difficulties for students to recognize the changing

expectations for them. This difference and the fact that no interviewee’s thought it

was a mitigating factor in student misbehaviour may be because several

interviewees don’t remember the transitional period they faced, or that it wasn’t

that tough for them. It is possible that the schooling process has also changed since

they were students and it has become more difficult for young people now.

Contextual factors heavily influence how this opinion is shaped as personal schooling

experiences plays a large role in a smooth and comfortable transitional process.

Another contrast is how no interviewees specifically identified bullying as a cause of

misbehaviour. Parker et al., (2016) recognized the potential that bullying (exclusion)

can have on children and how this effects their behaviour. Interviewees may have

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neglected to recognize this as a factor for several reasons; they were never bullied as

a child, they had strong friend groups or teachers handled bullying differently. The

contextual factors again, play a large role in people’s opinion of why students can

sometimes misbehave and personal experiences shape these opinions.

Section 4

Analysing these findings in the literature as well as examining personal opinions has

several implications for my personal teaching practice and also provides a greater

understanding of student behaviour. Creating a greater personal awareness for my

teaching practice and how I interact with students will influence the student-teacher

relationships I form and how I provide support for students struggling for a variety of

reasons. I personally did not have a hard time transitioning from primary to

secondary school but learning that this is a tough phase for many students will help

me understand student behaviour for certain students and ideally give me the

opportunity to help their transitioning process and become a form of support for

them. Alleviating certain expectations from students that I may have placed on them

previous to learning this information, this knowledge may strongly influence my

future teaching practice.

Learning the range of personal opinions from several interviews has also given me a

greater depth of understanding into various people’s experience with the schooling

system and their view on misbehaviour. Learning from different opinions and

importantly ones that contrast/ challenge my opinions will help me understand a

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larger population of students and hopefully relate to more students. This will in turn

help me support a wider range of students and influence how I interact with them.

Continual study is undoubtedly needed for my personal growth as a teacher, in the

forms of personal experience and also analysing literature, but the opinions and

lessons learnt from this study will inform my teaching strategies and practice in

numerous ways, such as understanding students difficulties (whether they are

personal, social, emotional), creating a safe environment and realistic expectations

as a teacher and becoming a positive support network for students in need.

Understanding the numerous factors that contribute to young people misbehaving is

insightful for not only pre-service teachers but teachers in general. The interviews

and literature examined highlight just how broad the reasons for student

misbehaviour can be. Ensuring we do not limit our understanding of misbehaviour

into our own personal experiences/ bias’s is key if we are to gain a greater

understanding of why young people misbehave.

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References
Crawshaw, M. (2015). Secondary school teachers’ perceptions of student
misbehaviour: A review of international research, 1983 to 2013. Australian
Journal of Education, 293-311.
De Nobile, J., Lyons, G., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2017). Positive Learng Environments:
Creating and Maintaining Productive Classrooms. Sydney: Cengage Learning
Australia.
Flourni, E., & Midouhas, E. (2017). Environmental adversity and children's early
trajectories of problem behavior: The role of harsh parental discipline. Journal
of Family Psychology. Vol. 31 Issue 2, 234-243.
Parker, C., Paget, A., Ford, T., & Gwernan-Jones, R. (2016). ‘.he was excluded for
the kind of behaviour that we thought he needed support with…’ A qualitative
analysis of the experiences and perspectives of parents whose children have
been excluded from school. Emotional and Beahvioural Difficulties. Vol. 21
Issue 1., 133-151.
Peguero, A., & Bracy, N. (2015). School Order, Justice, and Education: Climate,
Discipline Practices, and Dropping Out. Journal of Research on Adolescence.
Vol. 25 Issue 3, 412-426.
Salee, S. (2000). High school students' perspectives about misbehavior. Physical
Educator. Vol. 57, Issue 3, 124-136.

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