Nearly halfway through the second fully in-person school year since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education, some school administrators say they’ve seen improvements in student behaviors, while others say the problem has only gotten worse.

Teachers and administrators widely agreed last year that students were acting out more often and more severely than before the pandemic pushed schools to close.

According to a May survey by the National Center for Education Statistics, 87% of public schools in the United States reported that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted student socio-emotional development last school year and 84% said students’ behavioral development has been negatively impacted.

Experts say the impacts of the pandemic on students’ educational, emotional and social development will be felt for years to come. But even as student behaviors continue to be a challenge in schools, some administrators say the situation has improved since last year.

At Lewiston Middle School, Principal Amanda Bryant, who is new to the position this year, said school staff and administrators have told her they feel student behaviors are much better this year.

There have been fights in the building, she said, but it’s rare. About 5% to 7% of students have received some kind of support due to misbehavior or conflict this year, according to Bryant.

The root of the problem, she said, is conflict among students on social media.

“There has not been one incident this year that something has actually started here at school,” Bryant said. “I cannot think of an incident where the students didn’t tell me, ‘We were talking in a group chat. This is happening on social media. Someone made a fake Instagram account and was saying things about me.'”

Lewiston Superintendent Jake Langlais agreed, writing, “The events of the last three years are not an excuse, but we are seeing student conflicts develop out of emotional responses to things happening on technology platforms, and most of the time it is not happening at school.”

Staff have worked hard to build relationships with students to help them work through problems without resorting to violence, Bryant said.

New to Lewiston Middle School, for 30 minutes every day students are participating in activities focused on building community and relationships. Sometimes students and their teachers have roundtable discussions, other times they engage in hands-on activities such as decorating the hallways.

The school has also bolstered their student support staff and leaned into restorative justice practices – a framework to help students engage with each other – in addition to traditional disciplinary actions.

So far, there’s some evidence their system may be working. As of early December, Bryant said not one student who had been disciplined for “big aggressive behaviors” had reengaged in similar behavior at school.

“I have to send the message to everyone that you cannot be in this building if you’re going to be violent,” Bryant said. “But I also have to send the message to everyone that we will help you proactively fix a situation and reactively will help you solve the problem so it doesn’t happen again.”

However, in a November report to the School Committee, Lisbon Community School Principal Kristie Morin said staff are seeing more behavior problems from students than last year.

Compared to the spring, the elementary school’s resilience coaches have recorded a 22% increase in physical aggression among general education students, she said.

“There’s an increase of need for behavioral interventions (and) increase of need for behaviors in themselves,” Morin said. The school is a very busy place, she said.

Working with misbehaving students is normally one of her strengths, she said, but the fall has been especially difficult.

“This year is stretching me to new realms of having to get creative on different plans for kids,” she said.

Differences in behavioral expectations at home and in school are partly responsible for the school’s increase in aggressive behavior, Morin said.

“You horseplay at home when you’re 5, right, with your family?” she said. “Kids aren’t understanding when you come to school, you can’t do that.”

Like Lewiston Middle School, Lisbon Community School has worked to foster relationships among students using restorative justice practices to bring students together to resolve conflicts in a structured setting.

Fairview Principal Celeste Beaudet said that beyond helping students readjust to school last year, she hasn’t seen any unusual problems with student behaviors this fall. But she has seen a rise in the number of students who need extra support.

“We definitely have seen some students who are really struggling,” she said. “We’ve had to put some plans into place and really partner with parents. It’s definitely more so than prior to the pandemic.”

Administrators said there are ways that parents can help at home.

Langlais encouraged parents to put technology away and talk with their kids face to face.

“Adults need to model good behavior on social media,” he wrote. “We need to grow the ability to rise above conflict, choose healthy communication, and remember that the platforms are a stage for things most would not say in a face-to-face setting.”

Morin asked that families help teach children how to manage their emotional and behavioral responses.

“I know that it’s so easy to pick up your phone and give it to your child when they’re having a hard time, but we can’t do that at school,” she said.

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