Fighting to be Heard: Impact of fights on student mental health in the Valley



When kids returned to school after the pandemic, behavioral issues skyrocketed across the nation. Here in the Coachella Valley, parents and students sent News Channel 3 several videos of school fights. Now, years later, fights continue to be an issue at some schools, like a recent one at James Workman Middle School in Cathedral City.  These fights can create hostile environments and affect student mental health.

"It's heartbreaking. It's very difficult," said Melissa Hawkins, a mental health therapist at the Betty Ford Center. "I think it can cause a lot of fear and anxiety and sadness in the kids that are viewing it. I also think. You know, it questions their own safety, right? Like, am I gonna be safe? Is this gonna happen to me?" 

More than 8 in 10 public schools across the nation reported seeing stunted behavioral and socioemotional development in their students because of the pandemic, according to the Institute of Educational Sciences.Violence against educators also grew after the pandemic, rising to levels exceeding those before the pandemic, per the American Psychological Association. 

"It can make it harder to go to even want to go to school," said Hawkins. "If I feel like there's a possibility that I might be harmed, I may not want to even go to school, which obviously can impact your grades and your ability to learn." 

Morning anchor Angela Chen asked school districts for the latest numbers on suspensions and found that numbers are down in all districts.

For Palm Springs Unified, overall suspensions for fighting this year are down 35% from its peak in 2022 - 2023, dropping from 710 suspensions to 458, according to the most recent numbers that PSUSD could share as of the airdate of this story. For Coachella Valley Unified School District, suspensions are down 37% from 907 in 2022-2023 to 566 this year. And finally, for Desert Sands Unified School District, suspensions are down 23% from two years ago.

Why the improvement? School districts have said it’s their focus on student mental health.

 Still, there are parents who say administrators are not doing enough, like Crystal Garcia.

"When I reported all of this to the district, the superintendent didn't even follow up. Did they fix the problem? It doesn't look like they fixed the problem," said Garcia, who says her child was bullied.

So — we asked the districts directly.

"How do you respond to parents who accuse school districts of deliberately not suspending kids who fight to make suspension numbers look better?" said Angela Chen, in a Zoom interview with DSUSD.

"We hear that from parents where they're worrying about the schools not reporting, and that's certainly not the case," said Laura Fisher, the DSUSD Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services. "Safety is a priority at desert sands, and every time there's a fight, we, the staff, thoroughly investigates it and looks at appropriate discipline. It depends on so many different factors, you know, the discipline history of the child, the actual facts of the um incident, and we also want to pair a discipline piece with an educational piece. Because just suspending does not necessarily change the behavior. And what we're really looking at is changing behaviors." 

All districts said they follow Education Code 48915 for suspension and expulsion recommendations, which most often leaves it to the principal to decide disciplinary action. 

In a statement, CVUSD wrote: "Our policy and protocols are to carry out ed code as violations occur, such as fights. A lot of what we are doing as a district with restorative practices and conflict resolution is directly having a positive impact on our numbers. The decrease is very much directly impacted by our transformational model, wellness center teams , and mental health supports that are available district wide."

In response to the same question, PSUSD wrote: "Per education code – suspensions are determined by the school site principal or designee, the district office can’t dictate whether to suspend or not, but we provide guidance... wherever possible we want to intervene prior to a fight happening with tiered supports, conflict mediation, no contact contracts, mental health, etc."  

 "What's interesting about depression is it manifests very differently in children and adolescents. It can present as anger. It can present as um aggression, acting out behaviors and so I think sometimes when we think of depression, particularly in adults, it's lower moods, sadness, loss of energy, whereas in a child or a teen it might present as sort of that agitation and that anger," said Hawkins.

That aggression tied to depression can seem at odds emotionally, but it's why all of our school districts have said making mental health wellness a priority and pillar of education has made a big difference.They're crediting their mental health programs for the drop in suspension numbers.

"Coachella Valley unified school district has had a focus of reducing suspensions by implementing the transformational model," CVUSD wrote in a statement, "These strategies and practices are trained districtwide and applied to support students with conflict resolution and restoring relationships. Wellness centers are located at all the secondary schools, where a wellness teacher, mentor, and wellness para-professional work directly with our students by providing self-regulating strategies, conflict resolution, and mentoring."

PSUSD said under a new program initiated last year for students who fight, week-long behavior management lessons are required. 

Since starting this intervention program — educators say there's been a reduction in second offenses.

 "We implemented a new program last school year for students who get into a fight. For their first offense they have to complete a week’s worth of lessons for behavior management with a prevention specialist and for their second fight they complete a second level of intervention," PSUSD wrote in a statement to News Channel 3. "We have found that we have a reduction in second offenses since the implementation of the behavior management intervention as well as the tiered mental health services we provide at every school site."

"We've made a significant investment in student wellness, you know, along with our amazing counselors and school psychologists and nurses, we have hired, um, school-based mental health therapists for every middle school and high school," said Fisher. "What we found is really de-stigmatizing mental health -- that was not something that was really addressed in schools and so really looking at how we can support."

Some of that support looks like this: DSUSD said the administration is using a county grant to create cozy calming spaces in every elementary school. We also saw the district's commitment at Indio high school's inaugural mental health fair in May. 

"Mental health affects everyone. And everyone is human and they're all going through their own things. It doesn't matter how small or big the problem is — it can affect you," said Lorena Magaña, a junior at Indio High School.  

 About 30 booths were set up, complete with sound healing, offering resources on reducing stress and anxiety. This comes as teens live a large part of their lives online, facing increasing pressure and, often, self-esteem issues because of social media. 

 "The pressure that social media creates — the instant access all the time, you know the kids, the young teens they don't get a break from each other. They don't get separation. They're here all day, they go home, they've got the same thing," said Ashley Schantz, a counselor at Indio High School.

 Kids these days have some tough challenges, often making mistakes in formative years that then become immortalized online. And if suspensions continue to decline, it only reaffirms the importance and impact of mental health wellness for kids.

News Channel 3 will continue to follow fights in schools, suspension numbers, and mental health impact and ask for answers when issues come up.