Northwest High School Principal Brad Snell is asking parents to help administrators and staff curb student discipline problems, which have been on the rise this school year.
He said class disruptions, vandalism, theft, fighting and other dangerous conduct have increased, according to an Oct. 5 letter he sent to parents.
“The attention that we’re spending on (discipline issues) is more than it usually is,” he said. “We’re using more time for correcting students than we have in the past, when we should be with students in the classroom helping them learn.”
Snell said he believes some of the discipline problems can be attributed to the loss of routines because of the pandemic.
“We know kids are struggling right now,” he said. “They’re not used to a seven-period day, and they’re not used to the homework that they’re getting, because we ran a hybrid schedule last year.”
Snell said another contributing factor was a trend on the TikTok social media platform that encouraged vandalism at schools, and after that students were removing soap dispensers and vandalizing school restrooms.
“I think our kids are bombarded with so much negativity and controversy. That’s what they see on their phones every day,” he said.
Snell said a Northwest High student recently died, which has upset students, and some students were writing about the student on school walls.
“We have talked to our students about that not being appropriate,” he said. “We don’t write on walls and things like that.”
Snell also said the high school has offered students help to deal with the loss of their fellow student – Paige E. Braun, 17, who died following a car accident on Sept. 26.
The school has six guidance counselors and a social worker students may talk to about their grief, and a Comtrea counselor also works with students who may need help, Snell said.
“We have all kinds of resources for our students; they just have to go to the guidance office and get those resources,” he said.
Chad Braun of Cedar Hill said he heard about students writing his daughter’s name on school walls.
“She was very outgoing,” he said. “She was definitely a strong willed, strong heart, just like her mom and dad. She’s definitely a leader, not a follower.”
Snell said students were encouraged to write about their memories of Paige on pieces of paper that were hung on walls and then taken down and given to the family.
“Instead of writing on a bathroom wall, let’s write positive statements to the parents so that parents can see the support that our kids are giving the family,” he said.
Chad Braun said he and his wife posted a message on social media asking students to stop writing Paige’s name on school walls.
“My daughter would not want her name smeared all over the walls at the high school she was fixing to graduate at,” he said. “You’re not doing anything but hurting and costing people time and money and effort for something that doesn’t need to be done.”
Braun said after his social media post, Snell told him people stopped writing Paige’s name on the walls.
Snell said custodians regularly touch up paint at the school and painted over the writing on the walls.
Someone claiming to be a Northwest student shared a petition on change.org to get plaques made for students who have passed away, and both Paige Braun and Kyle Finocchiaro, who died in October 2020, were mentioned in the petition, which garnered 834 signatures and has since been closed.
The Leader tried to reach a student believed to be involved with the petition drive but got no reply.
Snell said he has spoken with a couple of students and the Braun family about the possibility of creating a memorial to honor students who have died.