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there is a negative stigma surrounding young people and their behaviour. In schools,
teachers witness a mixture of behaviours as young people will be going through puberty and
adolescents (Biro & Dorn, 2005). Given the mixture of behaviours exhibited in young people
it is important for teachers to understand how to deal with misbehaviour in a fashion that
does not negatively impact the learning experience of the student. To develop
purpose of this paper is to assist teachers in understanding why young people misbehave in
school? In this paper, current literature will be reviewed and compared against the personal
transition to adulthood. There is evidence that suggests pubertal timing has a direct
correlation with misbehaviour. Negriff, Fung and Trickett (2008) conducted a study that
delinquency. The study concluded that early pubertal timing is related to “delinquent
sociocultural influences. Early maturing individuals are more likely to be invited to associate
with older peer groups thus increasing their exposure to misbehaviour. This conclusion is
supported by Beaver and Wright (2005), where a correlation between increases in hormone
levels such as testosterone and estrogen and altered behavioural states have been
identified. This same study does identify sociocultural influences as reasons for altered
behaviours. Allison and Hyde (2011) conducted a similar study on early menarche and
concluded that risk taking increases if females encounter menarche earlier than other
female counterparts. That man conclusion from these studies identify the sociocultural
Another reason for misbehaviour is ‘attention-seeking’. Cothran, Kulinna and Garrahy (2009)
conducted a study interviewing students and teachers and concluded that a major aspect of
misbehaviour is a students need for attention. These attention seeking behaviours were
attributed to a lack of identity between their peers and a need for recognition off an
authoritative figure. This is similar to peer-pressure as the student demonstrate a need for
acceptance to fit into a peer-group however, there is a lack of interaction between the
student and their peers. This is supported in Downing, Keating and Bennett (2005), student
will engage in behaviours both appropriate and inappropriate due to their desire for the
teachers attention.
In the classroom student surveys attributed misbehaviour to students being bored during
the lesson (Montuoro and Lewis, 2015). Weinerman and Kenner (2016) characterised
boredom as a sever lack of interest. The same study identified that boredom increases an
lesson. This highlights the teachers ability to provide engaging lesson as a reason as to why
students become bored and thus misbehave. Duchesne, McMaugh, Bochner and Krause
(2013) support this idea as it recognises student engagement being a cornerstone to
providing students with a positive learning experience. A positive learning experience will
reduce the students chances of participating in risk-taking behaviours as they will be more
Data for this study was collected from six willing participants. Each participant was provided
an information sheet disclosing the reasons for the interview and a consent form that
ensured all details of the participant are to be kept confidential. To ensure a variety of
diverse results, the six participants were chosen from different age and gender
demographics. Each demographic has had some form of interaction with misbehaving young
people in schools, thus making them suitable candidates to participate in the study. In
accordance with the studies requirements, there was an even split for male and female
participants. The participants have been allocated an individual coding that keeps their
education.
(secondary).
M3 20yr old Swimming Instructor. Works with young people after school.
F2 23yr old Teacher. First year teacher currently working at a high school.
F3 18yr old University Student. First year university student completing a bachelor
of arts.
* M = Male F = Female
The interviews were all conducted one on one to ensure any answers are not influenced by
biases of other participants. To keep all participants identity confidential, the interview was
not recorded and only note taking was permitted. The structure of the interview was
conducted in a conversation format. Due to the nature of the interview only one question
was the same for all participants; “In your opinion, why do young people misbehave in
school?”. Other questions asked varied to fit the direction of the interview and all questions
After reviewing the answers from participants, the interviewer identified the most common
themes/beliefs present. The most common themes present were attention seeking,
mentioned in two or more interviews. Some of the themes were not explicitly named
however, based off the answers these were the most suitable titles that covered what was
discussed.
The most common theme in the interviewing process was ‘Peer influences’. In four of the six
interviews, this theme was mentioned directly and indirectly. This is a significant figure as it
recognises that majority of the participants believe the main reason for a student’s
people will always do silly things when surrounded by friends”. This individual later
explained that she believed that her children and grandchildren acted differently at home
compared to being at school because they were not surrounded by their classmates. These
thoughts were like the ones of M1. “Anytime my children have ever been in trouble with
school it had something to do with their friends” (M1) reiterates the beliefs of F1 but also
highlights the sociocultural influences peer-groups have. The comments in these interviews
were to the point and drew upon their own observations and experiences with their
children. These views differed to the remainder of participants and could be attributed to
the difference in age generations. The remaining participants are much younger and have
F2 and F3 also referred to peer-pressure as possible reasons but believed it was not the
main cause. Instead both F2 and F3 believed that due to their ages young people want to
“push boundaries” and copied the actions of their friends because that what everyone was
doing. These opinions tend to agree with the conclusions in Negriff, Fung and Trickett (2008)
as there is a common belief young people misbehave because of who they are associating
with. There is evidence that suggests young people are highly responsive to their peers
when making decisions (Bursztyn and Jensen, 2015 and Denscombe, 2001). M3 stated,
“young people can be your best friend or your worst enemy when trying to control a class,
because once one goes they fall like dominos”. This comment was not targeted at peer
influences however, it does further drive the idea that young people are highly influenced
Attention-seeking was another highly discussed point. This theme appeared directly when
interviewing M2 and F3 but also was touched on by F1 and M3. M2 stated, “young people
crave attention especially if they are coming from a disruptive home environment”. After
continuing this conversation M2 also believed that craving attention was not a bad thing
however, “when a teacher wants to keep the class on task, the attention-seeking student
can become disruptive. Even though the student doesn’t mean to be the teach can perceive
this as misbehaviour instead of a need for attention”. This statement from M2 is similar to
the reasoning in Downing, Keating and Bennett (2005) as student look for approval off
authoritative figures. In this case the young person is substituting a parent for the teacher
(Geldard, Geldard and Foo, 2016, P.32). F3 believed that misbehaviour came from young
people that didn’t have an identify. She stated, “the attention seekers at school were always
doing something different to get noticed”. These views come from an individual that was
recently in high school and was able to provide point of view from someone that still can be
considered a young person going into adulthood. These views partially agree with the
findings in Cothran, Kulinna and Garrahy (2009) by recognises students that lack identity and
The final common theme was ‘boredom’. F2 stated, “it is very hard to keep every student
engaged in a lesson they tend to get restless when they are not engaged”. This recognises a
lack of engagement in activities leads to boredom. When interviewing M3 boredom was the
first words to answer the initial question. When digging deeper M3 explained, “many
student like to be involved and when they aren’t, they will start to find ways to entertain
themselves and that usually isn’t what I want when I teach”. These comments mirror the
opinions of F2. Both individuals have experience working as a teacher in some capacity with
young people and appear to have drawn their reasoning from that. Additionally, these
opinions support the views in Weinerman and Kenner (2016) and Duchesne, McMaugh,
Bochner and Krause (2013). Both paper recognise the need for engagement.
After analysing both literature and the opinions of the participants, the common belief is
that young people can misbehave for more than one reason. Using this information, it is
F2 stated, “every student learns differently and not everything you do is going to work”. This
statement is true however, a well-informed teacher will be able to draw upon a variety of
Maintaining engagement and crucial but also very hard (Katz, 2013). Choice theory assumes
that “student behaviour is based upon whatever is most satisfying to them at any given
time” (Charles, 2011, P. 145). This theory recognises the unpredictable nature of
adolescents and that keeping them engaged one day might not be the same the next day.
Using an ecological model to teacher allow the teacher to view school as an ecosystem. It
maintain a balance these factors must work together however; the teacher cannot always
control the other factors. The best the teacher can do is use creative measures that will aim
to maintain a students engagement. These can include differentiation techniques that cater
for high achievers, students with learning difficulties and the remainder of the class (Young
and Balli, 2014 and Moss, 2013). Another method to maintain engagement is the
incorporation of ICT into learning as it has been proposed that young people tend to
respond better to modern techniques instead of traditional methods (Katz, 2013 and
Duchesne, McMaugh, Bochner & Krause, 2013). By tackling this issue teachers may be able
to reduce the impact of boredom and to some extent attention seeking behaviours.
The other element to tackle is the impact of peer-influence. This is a difficult aspect to
address as it can be driven outside and carried over into classroom. A method the teacher
could try to incorporate is the additional of social skills into a lesson. By delivering activities
that allow young people to socialise more they will be less incline to display disruptive
behaviours (attention from teacher). The Making Choices intervention (Smokowski, Fraser,
Day, Galinsky and Bacallao, 2004) displayed promising result when working with young
people that displayed social problems. For the teacher tasks such as, group work,
discussions and problem-solving activities may assist these student by developing their
social skills with other students. It should be noted that these techniques may not apply to
every student as mentioned in choice theory however, the teacher can look to develop all-
inclusive activities that aim to provide the best possible learning experience.
The question “why do students misbehave in school?” cannot be answered with one simple
answer. As seen in the literature and the opinions of the interviewees misbehaviour can be
teachers, it becomes important to recognise that young people are in a transition period
going towards adulthood and that it is their job to provide guidance to the best of their
abilities. There is no exact recipe to stop all misbehaviour however, employing behaviour
management techniques that promote inclusive learning are the most realistic way to help
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