Group Disorders in the Public Schools

BOTH social science and journalistic accounts have been reporting high rates of disorders in America's high schools. Bailey (1970:9) found 85% of the nation's high school principals reporting some form of student disruption during the period 1967-1970. A study commissioned by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (1969) reported that 59% of all high schools and 67% of the urban high schools had experienced some form of student protest during the 1968-69 academic year. Using newspaper accounts, Westin (1970) counted 2,000 high school disruptions from November 1968 through May 1969. A large scale study commissioned by the House of Representatives Sub-Committee on General Education (Congressional Record, Feb. 23, 1970) reported that 18%o of the schools had experienced "serious protests." While the occurrence of school disorders is well documented, the causes remain somewhat obscure. In this paper we shall attempt to account for rates of two forms of group disorder in the academic high schools of New York City during the period November 1968 through June 1969.1 We shall be attempting to determine to what extent if any, variation in rates of student disorder and disruption reflect variations in system characteristics or ethnic aggregates in the schools. Our thesis is that while disorders take place in schools, their roots lie in the larger society.