February 6, 2023

The middle schoolers are not alright: Beat Check podcast

Elena hosted and produced this episode. It was edited by Andrew Theen.

Content warning: Episode briefly mentions sexual assault.

By this point, it’s no secret that the pandemic severely stunted learning outcomes for children and teens. But COVID-19 didn’t just impact learning in the classroom — it also had a serious effect on how students behaved and interacted with one another.

On the latest episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, education reporter Julia Silverman sits down with producer Elena Neale-Sacks to talk middle school. Specifically, why so many middle schoolers misbehaved during the pandemic, and what schools are doing about it.