Stressed pupils ‘more likely to bully and fight’

TeaCHerS may face unprecedented bad behaviour, bullying and fighting due to the damaging effect of school closures on children’s mental health, a study warned yesterday.

Poor concentration and restlessness could also cause problems as pupils readjust after a year of disruption.

experts claim it will be as important for teachers to help pupils ‘catch up’ with their mental health as the emphasis on filling in the gaps in learning.

‘Tics of a complex and bizarre nature’

Separate research also revealed that many girls, who are thought to have had more pandemic-related stress than boys, have developed Tourette’s syndrome, which causes sufferers to make involuntary sounds and tics. In the first study, researchers at three universities found bad behaviour soared when children went back to school after the previous lockdown, with a rise in tantrums and clinginess being blamed on pandemic stress.

according to researchers at the universities of essex, Surrey and Birmingham, the effects of missing six weeks of school could equate to a 73 per cent increase in challenging behaviour.

Their report says that although overall well- being rose when schools reopened in September, the subsequent closure will make any negative effects on children’s mental health and behaviour ‘ likely to continue after the easter holidays and into next term, if not beyond’.

Dr Birgitta rabe, of the University of essex, said: ‘ Going back to school in itself does not appear to be sufficient for children to “bounce back”. Support for mental health and well-being is likely to be required for some time.’

The research found the gulf in well-being between pupils who missed more time at school than others was ‘stubbornly wide’.

Psychiatrists also say that Covid, as well as the influence of social media, may be behind an ‘explosion of tics’ that has led to referrals nearly doubling at two London clinics.

an article in the journal archives of Disease in Childhood said: ‘The new surge of referrals consists of adolescent girls with sudden onset of motor and phonic tics of a complex and bizarre nature.’

It said that if this continued it would ‘amount to 150 to 200 cases per year and effectively double the referral rate’.

Suzanne Dobson, of the charity Tourettes action, said it was ‘getting more calls... than we’ve ever had before’.

Girls may be prone because of social isolation, whereas more boys stayed in touch with their friends by gaming online.