Q&A – Is Violence Becoming An Epidemic In South Florida’s Schools? 

Q&A – Is Violence Becoming An Epidemic In South Florida’s Schools? 

Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods. 

Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com

Gettr, Parler & Twitter: @brianmuddradio 

Today’s entry: Really enjoy your show! Interesting article on front page of Sentinel today (Sunday). Titled “We are legitimately scared every day”. I find it interesting how media is slipping in info on the unintended consequences of all the Covid restrictions we’ve endured. Kinda surprised this article was top front page. The article cites 712 fights and 223 physical attacks from the start of school through late October. Having that data, curious they didn’t drill it down to “by school”, “by age”, “by ethnicity” or any other scoping measurement. Just as we need to know origins of Covid to help prevent reoccurrence, I think we need a comprehensive review and analysis of all the unintended consequences to help assess any future response to another pandemic...

Bottom Line: While the origin of the Sun Sentinel’s story, which is a worthy read, is rooted in pandemic related concerns - the big picture issues behind the rise in violence in our schools are, in reality, decades in the making. I’ll explain, but first from the story, here are a couple of key data points: 

• In Palm Beach County, there have been 68 reported incidents of battery since mid-October, with 29 of those cases resulting in an arrest, according to school police.
• Broward has reported 712 fights and 223 physical attacks from the start of school through late October.

And then there’s a telling quote of an anonymous Coral Springs High teacher: We are legitimately scared every day to go to work because we don’t know what’s going to happen today. Following that quote, was this notation from the Sentinel as well: Adding to the problem is a shortage of guidance counselors, therapists and behavioral health specialists. Now,here’s the thing... While I don’t doubt that at the margins having more guidance counselors and therapists and behavioral health specialists may curb some of the violence which has been playing out in our schools...I’ve always been far less interested in treating symptoms than I have been in solving problems. Let me ask you. How many therapists and behavioral health specialists did your schools have on staff when you were growing up? How much violence was there around you? And look, this isn’t the preverbal old man yelling at the kids to get off his lawn. I’m 41. It wasn’t that long ago that we didn’t have a myriad of specialists on schoolstaffs, and we didn’t have a proliferation of violence in our schools. Problems tended to be isolated enough that you canprobably name “the bully” in your school. What’s changed isn’t the pandemic. 

You don’t need me to tell you, and you don’t need hard numbers to know, that violence in our schools had steadily been rising well before the pandemic. But before diving in a bit deeper on what’s really long been behind the rising trend, here’s something related from my Top Three Takeaways on October 6th. 

DeSantis’ pandemic polices have saved lives. Bad news for all of the DeathSantispeople out there. You’ve lied because many fewer Floridians have died prematurely. In today’s Q&A covering life expectancy during the pandemic, I discovered something rather remarkable. Despite Florida having the country’s largest senior population and thus being among the oldest states in the country, Florida’s life expectancy during the pandemic far exceeds the national average. While breaking down data to analyze how that came to be – one huge data point jumped out at me. Mental health. Mental health is something many on the left like to pay rhetorical homage to but seldom meaningfully address. That’s been especially evident during the pandemic. Consider, according to the WHO, those who suffer from depression are 1.8 times more likely to die prematurely. Now compare the approach of Florida to that of most other states during the pandemic. Which approach is most likely to promote positive mental health? A state that’s open with a strong economy and low unemployment or one that’s locked down with high unemployment? If you’re older and were to contract COVID-19would you feel you’d have more to live for in Florida as compared to lockdown states? If people were truly serious about studying the implications of mental health outcomes based on public policy decisions, Florida during the pandemic, would be the case study and used as a worldwide example.

While that information isn’t centered on school children the broader point about mental health remains. While school-aged children aren’t likely to be dying prematurely during the pandemic, even if they contract the virus, they’re certainly prone to mental health issues and many who’re struggling the most are certainly more likely to act out as a result. This is no secret. In my lifetime the most notable study I’ve come across, regardless of topic, was Harvard’s 2018 research on the connection between faith and mental health outcomes. It’s had such a profound impact on me that I’ve cited it regularly when concerns of mental health issues crop up. That most recently occurred on June 29th when I cited it on back of an alarming study out of the CDC that’s directly related to the rise in violence in our schools we’re talking about today. The CDC’s study found a 51% year over year increase in attempted suicides for girls between the ages of 12-17. That was prior to the start of this school year. It should come as no surprise that we’re seeing a rise in violence in our schools this school year. So, what’s the fix? A restoration of faith in our society. 

The further removed God is from our society, the worse the outcomes are and regardless of one’s religious views, society benefits from the tenants of faith – even atheists. Harvard’s study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, demonstrated powerful results. Children raised with religious activity have better physical and mental health as they age. Here were a few highlights:

By the age of 20 those raised with religious practices average being...

• 18% happier
• 30% more likely to help others
• 33% less likely to engage in substance abuse

In 1980, at the time of the creation of the Department of Education which saw to it that God was removed from public school classrooms, only about 5% of the US population didn’t believe in God. Today that’s over 25%. Columbine was in 1999, not coincidently the first generation of kids who were taught exclusively under the Department of Education’s policies. And we know what’s happened since. All of the councilors and mental health experts in the world can’t replace a belief in God. It’s been scientifically proven. The rise in mental health issues, and subsequent violence in our schools, are a byproduct of a lack of faith in society. Stressors like the pandemic simply lead to these issues coming to a head. There are two sides to stories and one side to facts. These are the facts.