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Morning Edition
Cathy Wurzer and Lukas Levin

Youth violence may have been provoked by pandemic stresses

A student walks down a hallway.
The average Minnesota school has 570 students and only one counselor. After pandemic stresses kept kids out of school and away from each other, educators are not only trying to catch up on lesson plans but important socialization too.
Charlie Riedel | AP 2021

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Recent high-profile stories about shootings, stabbings and other violence among some juveniles and teens have permeated many recent headlines.

Why is this happening?

Part of the issue may be that many students are lacking the one-on-one support they need, and it doesn’t help that support staff are already spread thin.

The ideal caseload for one school counselor is, at maximum, 250 students. While for Minnesota, it’s more than twice that number — ranking us the fourth-worst state when it comes to caseload management.

The average Minnesota school ratio has 570 students to one counselor. School counselors provide essential services to students, from helping them apply interpersonal skills to growing a successful academic plan. But after pandemic stresses kept kids out of school and away from each other, educators are not only trying to catch up on lesson plans but important socialization too.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Kelsey MacQueen, a licensed school counselor and president-elect of Minnesota’s School Counselor Association, to talk more about this issue.