School-based complaints to juvenile court on the rise in Forsyth County

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners met last week to hear from several organizations regarding an increase in youth violence. 

According to officials with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, there were nearly 1,500 complaints this year to the Forsyth County Juvenile Court. 

Of that number, 639 offenses were school-based, meaning the incident occurred on public or private school property. That’s more than double the amount from the year before. 

Rich Smith, a consultant for the department, attributed the increases to the pandemic. 

“So it seems like there's behavioral issues. I think, during COVID, when our youth have come back to the classroom, they don't play in the sandbox well," Smith said. "They come back, we're seeing more anxiety, more frustration, more aggression. We see a lot of aggression.” 

He also said more complaints are being filed against younger student populations.

In the last school year, 12 and 13-year-olds accounted for 226 complaints to the juvenile court — a number nearly tripled from the previous year.

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.