The FINANCIAL — Most Americans think there's not enough discipline in public schools today and feel it's tougher for teachers to maintain control than it was when they were kids.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 68% of American Adults believe discipline in public schools is too easy. Only five percent (5%) say it’s too tough, while 19% think the level of discipline imposed in modern public school classrooms is about right.
Seventy-eight percent (78%) of adults say it’s harder for a teacher to maintain discipline in the classroom than it was when they were students. Just 13% disagree.
But only 11% think a student's behavior in class is primarily the teacher's responsibility. Forty-seven percent (47%) say parents are most responsible for their child's behavior, while 36% believe the students themselves are responsible. Two percent (2%) delegate that responsibility to school authorities, and one percent (1%) think the police are most responsible.
The national telephone survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on July 19-20, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
Men are more likely than women to think discipline is too easy in today's schools.
Adults over 30 feel much more strongly than those who are younger that there's not enough discipline in the public schools.
Sixty-three percent (63%) of adults with children in the home think school discipline is too easy, compared to 71% of those without children living with them.
More than eight-out-of-10 adults over 40 think it’s harder to maintain discipline in the classroom these days than it was when they were in school.
When it comes to who’s responsible for behavior in school, 50% of adults with children at home and a plurality (45%) of those without children living with them agree it’s the responsibility of the student’s parents.
Eight-five percent (85%) of all adults are at least somewhat concerned about bullying in schools, and 61% think bullying is a bigger problem today than it was in the past.
Two-out-of-three adults (67%) believe states should be allowed to prohibit the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. Fifty-five percent (55%) believe violent video games lead to more violence in our society.
Most Americans feel public schools are a good investment for taxpayers but also agree that the quality of public school education has gone down in recent years.
With summer vacation in full swing, a majority of Americans now believe children need to spend more time in school. However, they are against a 12-month school calendar.
In December 2007, 85% of American adults believed that parents should have the right to spank their children. But only 30% said teachers should have that right.
Half of Americans nationwide now believe that today’s children are worse off than those of the previous generation.
Discussion about this post