Reports of student misconduct and poor behavior in U.S. schools have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 80% of U.S. teachers say that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on their students' behaviors. About half of teachers say they address behavioral issues in the classroom on a daily basis, according to data collected by the Pew Research Center. These issues range from students showing little to no interest in learning, distractions caused by cell phone use, and disrespectful behaviors toward teachers.
In addition, 78% of teachers surveyed said that parents are doing too little to hold their children accountable for misbehavior at school. Written codes of conduct can serve as rules and guidelines so that all parties — students, teachers, and parents — understand expectations for behavior as well as the fact that actions can have consequences.
The U.S. Department of Education suggests the following steps for districts looking to revise their codes of conduct in response to these trends. These steps include:
- Creating policies in an alliance with educators, parents, and community members through formal and informal methods.
- Considering whether disciplinary strategies meet the needs and developmental stages of the student.
- Ensuring that the adopted code of conduct is clear and easily accessible.
Making changes in South Bend
District leaders in the South Bend Community School Corporation (SBCSC) in Indiana took similar steps recently to revise the district’s code of conduct, and they did so in order to address new behavioral challenges, such as the increased use of cell phones in the classroom.
According to the SBSC Board of School Trustees, behavior types need to be clearly defined. Unfortunately, the 2019 code’s definitions of inappropriate behavior were too broad, leading to confusion. Behavioral levels were arbitrary, and there needed to be more emphasis on intervention.
SBCSC school board president Stuart Greene discussed the revision process as reported by WSBT-TV 22, a CBS affiliate.
"This should be an opportunity to learn, and it shouldn’t necessarily be punitive," Greene said.
The suggested revisions include clear definitions and distinctions between behavior types and a distinction between types of inappropriate behavior. In addition, the new code has an explicit placement for verbal aggression, profanity, and fighting, which the current code fails to address.
Communicating with the community
The committee tasked with revising the code of conduct made sure to communicate with community members. The committee held internal listening sessions with principals, teachers, students, in-school suspension (ISS) coordinators, and other school disciplinarians. In addition, the committee members conducted external listening sessions with community leaders, churches, parent-teacher organizations, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
SBCSC school board secretary Kate Lee echoed the importance of community involvement. "Anything that comes up within the code of conduct shouldn’t be a surprise. We want to make sure that parents, educators, and students are all very well informed about what the expectations are," she said.
The current code of conduct was written in 2014 and revised in 2019. The board hopes to implement the 2025-2026 school year revisions, which will not be the last changes to the code.
"A code of conduct is always a living, breathing document and so it’s really important to know how things are changing," Lee said before referencing cell phone usage in schools. "These things will continue to happen, so we have to keep [a] fresh eye on the code of conduct."
