Practical Tips For Teachers To deal with students and their parents

Posted by teacher on December 27, 2011

1) Teachers are usually in the best position to identify kids who later turn out to be violent. I have had numerous teachers tell me ” I knew Johnny was aggressive since he started preschool at the age of three.” As you are probably aware, good teachers often have a second sense about their students. These kids are usually the ones slapping other children and teachers and throwing temper tantrums in the classroom at an early age. You might even be astonished by the changes in a child’s behavior: cold calculating and aggressive behavior towards others one day and then the next day, they are sweet as can be. It can be exasperating. What can you do?

2) Request that your school have in-service programs for teachers specifically for the purpose of identifying the symptoms of at-risk children. Kids may act in ways that we don’t expect. For example, many times boys who are depressed will act aggressively by yelling, bullying etc. If you see a child with signs of aggressiveness or one that holds everything in and then blows, talk to the parents or school staff about referring the child to the school psychologist or for a psychiatric evaluation.

3) Teach critical thinking skills: they can prevent violence. There has been research showing that youthful impulsiveness may be linked to younger teenagers’ frenetic brain activity in the amygdala, which is primarily linked with emotions and instinctual reactions. Older teens and adults show more activity in the frontal lobe–the brain tissue involve in planning, insight and organization. Teachers can encourage young teen-agers (and younger) to develop the frontal lobe by teaching them to think more rationally (Yergelun-Todd, 1998). This may translate into integrating more critical thinking skills into school curriculums to teach kids more logical ways to solve problems. Paradoxically, school curricula aimed at helping teens get in touch with their emotions may actually make things worse–given the emotional makeup of many troubled teens–while programs that substitute rational thought for emotion may help them deal with their problems constructively. Star Trek’s “Mr. Spock” turns out to be right: cool logic is the enemy of hotheaded violence.

4) Set a good example. Use your clout as a teacher to call into question administrative rules in your school that might be leading to misbehavior. These regulations may start out with good intentions, but often create other problems. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is one good example. Many kids with behavioral problems are in special education classes. As you know, because of this, there are restrictions on how many days they can be expelled from school even for very serious and violent acts. Meanwhile, the kid in regular education is expelled for misbehavior of a less serious nature. Zero Tolerance works the same way: Kids who are no threat are often expelled from school for bringing a butter knife or model rocketship–getting the same consequences as the kid found with a gun. What is this teaching children about adults’ abilities to think critically? Administrators who cannot distinguish between right and wrong teach children that all acts of misbehavior are identical. This sends the message that you might as well commit a serious crime because you’ll get the same punishment. Vocalize these concerns to school administrators or even to your legislators. On a smaller scale, provide students in your classroom with consequences that are comenserate with the misbehavior displayed. Allow your students to see you performing critical thinking in action.

5) If your school does not already have a violence prevention program, talk with administrators about putting one in place. Education is the key in helping students to identify other potentially dangerous students. Several recent school tragedies have been averted by other students telling school officials that someone has a weapon. Get to know your students and establish a trust with them. You might just be the one they turn to if they or their friend is thinking of violence.