North Little Rock school officials blame pandemic stress for increased instability

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Stress from the pandemic and social media has caused students in the North Little Rock School District to become restless and take more action, administrators said at a school board workshop Thursday night.

School suspensions, out-of-school suspensions and other disciplinary measures are all in place in the North Little Rock School District as students have struggled to cope with a return to school , said the administrators.

School officials cited more students with mental health issues brought on by isolation during the covid-19 pandemic, a chaotic national climate, social media and exposure to violence as being among the factors at the origin of the increase in school discipline.

Principals across the school district have reported seeing an increase in the number of students taking action.

“I have 11 combat situations this year, and this is by far the most I have ever had to deal with,” said Karla Whisnant, director of the North Little Rock Center of Excellence.

“It’s a number I would expect to see – maybe – in May, but never in September,” she said.

Quintin Cain, principal of the seventh and eighth grade campus at North Little Rock Middle School, said there had been a “huge increase” in the number of fights and cases of insubordination.

“Of course, last year in the face of covid was a honeymoon year because we only had five to six hundred kids in the building at one point,” Cain said. “Now we are planning to have 1,110 to 1,150 children at a time in the building.”

While there has been a decrease in minor infractions at the North Little Rock 6th grade campus, major infractions such as brawls, vandalism and profanity have increased since the 2019-20 school year.

“In 19-20 we had no vandalism; this year we already had four,” said Michael Clark, sixth-year campus principal at North Little Rock Middle School.

In a presentation at Thursday’s meeting, Sharesa White, executive director of high school curriculum, assessment and accountability, said the mental health of many students had deteriorated during the pandemic in because of “the uncertainty, the fear of catching the virus, problems sleeping and worries about the future.”

White said a study shows these pandemic-induced concerns have led to an increase in depression, anxiety and substance abuse among college students.

Principals attributed some of the increase in incidents to social media, saying the challenges promoted on TikTok have prompted students to take action at school.

“Social media is outrageous,” Whisnant said. “He’s a huge player in the lives of our children, in the decisions they make that lead to those actions.”

One solution, administrators suggested, is to open schools to allow more parents and volunteers to enter, creating benefits through increased community engagement and face-to-face parent-teacher conferences.

Other suggestions included adding a mentoring program, conducting conflict resolution training, adding a therapy dog, and holding more parent meetings.

North Little Rock High School principal Nadia Saint-Louis said ninth graders are most likely to take action, as many have moved from virtual learning in middle school to attending in-person classes in high school .

“The last time a lot of them were in school was in seventh grade,” Saint-Louis said. “Every time students make the transition, it is already a challenge to come to school.”

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