Gaggle Blog

Students and the Pandemic: What Is Gaggle Seeing?

Written by Lisa Railton | Apr 20, 2021 6:11:40 PM

More than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic flipped learning upside-down overnight for students and educators across the country, how are students coping? Between the quick transition to distance learning, stay-at-home orders, shortages of food and supplies, and fears about the virus, students have been through a lot. So, what exactly is Gaggle seeing when it comes to student safety and well-being?

After analyzing our data from the first year of the pandemic—from March 13, 2020 to March 12, 2021—compared to the same time period the previous year, the results show just how much students have struggled with these changes to their lives and routines. Gaggle recorded a 31% overall increase in student safety incidents, rising from 40.1 to 52.6 incidents per 1,000 students. 

This uptick in student safety incidents includes significant increases in four of our content categories:

  • 35% increase in Suicide & Self-Harm (from 16.0 to 21.7 incidents per 1,000 students)
  • 23% increase in Violence Toward Others (from 10.6 to 13.1 incidents per 1,000 students)
  • 76% increase in Nudity & Sexual Content (from 5.0 to 8.9 incidents per 1,000 students)
  • 46% increase in Drugs & Alcohol (from 2.4 to 3.5 incidents per 1,000 students)

Our new Students Disrupted: One Year Into the Pandemic report, now available for you to download, details what we saw in terms of student safety and well-being during a full year of living and learning through the pandemic. 

In this new report, you’ll find information about the growth in content created by students, learn about student safety trends during this time period, and gain insight into what we uncovered at the elementary level. Plus, you’ll discover what we’re seeing so far during the 2020–21 school year. Download your free copy of the report to learn more.