Students who exhibit antisocial behavioral patterns present a major challenge to educators. One of the primary problems presented in coping with such students is the additional time and attention from teachers and administrators needed to resolve issues arising from their behaviors. In addition to resolving direct problems stemming from antisocial students acting out, secondary issues include peer relationships that placing a strain on teachers and administrators resulting in less time spent on meeting educational needs.
Antisocial behavior from an individual student can be difficult enough for educators to cope with; adding to the problem is the tendency of such students to gravitate toward one another. Generally by the fifth grade, students with antisocial problems will form into groups with others who share their behavior. Feelings of ostracism from the general school population and their teachers causes these students to turn to one another. As antisocial students group together, they move farther away from the normal school atmosphere which makes it more difficult for educators and administrators to reach out to them.
Socioeconomic and familial factors can affect the occurrence of antisocial behavior in children and adolescents, but schools may also bear a strong social responsibility for the behavior of such students. This responsibility stems from the school's need to maintain an optimal educational environment for all students. The concentration of children and adolescents in educational settings creates a higher occurrence rate and visibility of antisocial behavior than in a family setting, for example. Responding to this increased visibility and occurrence, schools often develop programs to increase focus, anger management and conflict resolution skills. These programs are designed both to assist the student in adapting to the educational environment and to prevent post-educational problems such as difficulties maintaining employment and a higher risk of incarceration.
In coping with antisocial students, schools will sometimes contribute to rather than diminish risk factors in attempting to find a solution. Students with reputations of antisocial behavior will often find it a challenge to change, as their past behaviors have caused educators, administrators and peers to distance themselves from the student. Trust in the student's ability to follow through on promises of improvement is diminished and student efforts toward change are met with skepticism, causing them to revert to old behavior patterns. In addition, alternative classrooms for antisocial students where they are separated from their peers leads to stigmatization.