Disruptive Behavior

Educators in schools for the past two decades have been faced with the problem of disruptive behavior in classrooms. The rate and extent to which schools in Jamaica and elsewhere have been experiencing disruptive behavior among students, has generated the attention of many within the classrooms and in other places. The present study examined school personnel perceptions of the causes of disruptive behavior among a set of grades 9 and 11 students in a corporate area high school and the impact that disruptive behavior had on their own and their classmates' achievement. The results of the study revealed that school personnel hypothesized several causes of disruptive behavior in classrooms. These were inclusive of parental influence and home environment, community environment, peer influence, socioeconomic status, difficult personal circumstances, illiteracy, learning disability (ADHD), attention seeking, and problems with teaching. The data suggest that specialized training, regarding classroom disruptive behavior, should be implemented to better equip school personnel with the techniques to deal effectively with classroom disruptive behavior.