Children who have been abused or traumatized often cause problems in the classroom, whether they are aggressive, passive, or clingy, said Marilyn Gootman of the University of Georgia, an expert on solving discipline problems. Although teachers often feel overwhelmed by these students, there are ways to address serious behavior problems, she assured her audience.
Damaged children "haul extra baggage into the classroom," Gootman said, and their misbehavior is an expression of the pain they feel. Teachers should consider these children "wounded," rather than stubborn, lazy, or mean. Instead of writing these children off as "bad eggs," she said, teachers "must believe that inside every child is a gem." But she added, "Iknow as a teacher how difficult this is" to do.
Aggressive children—those who pick fights, push and shove, and bully others—are "a big pain in the classroom," Gootman said. Typically, they're copying behavior they have seen at home and in the media. Teachers can help counter these bad examples by providing appropriate modeling—by avoiding corporal punishment, for example, and keeping their cool when they're angry.
Teachers can also teach these children how to express their anger constructively, Gootman said. Teachers should not try to squelch children's anger. Teachers often tell children, "Don't be angry"—but this is the worst thing they can do, she maintained. "We need to distinguish between feelings and actions." By teaching anger management skills,teachers can help children keep their anger from exploding in the classroom. But "we must still give them the right to [feel] that anger and to express their feelings"—even when their feelings are not easy to hear.
Abused children's violence stems from their feelings of powerlessness, Gootman said. Teachers can reduce this violence by helping them feel more powerful. One way teachers can do this is by giving children real choices: in what topics to study, what books to read, or when to do certain work, for example. "The element of choice is very important," Gootman said, "so that it's not just the teacher decreeing everything."
For anxious, jumpy children as well as aggressive ones, "routines are absolutely critical," Gootman said. While teachers shouldn't be overly rigid, they need to create a stable, predictable classroom environment. "Letting children know what's going to happen next can be so reassuring to children from traumatic or chaotic homes," she said.
Teachers should also impose fair limits and consequences for misbehavior, Gootman said. The focus should always be on appropriate behavior. If a child grabs a crayon from a classmate, for example, the teacher should ask her to think about what she should do instead next time. "Contracts for prevention," under which children pledge to behave differently in the future, can help them move to more appropriate behavior. "Don't expect miracles overnight," Gootman said, but over time "the system takes hold and becomes self-perpetuating."
Children who are "spacy" have learned to dissociate from their surroundings as a defensive measure, Gootman said. Going into a daze is their "saving grace when they're overwhelmed." (Many of these children are misdiagnosed as learning disabled, she asserted.) An abused child who reads "red shirt" might think "red blood" and shut down. "It's not a conscious thing," she noted. Teachers need to bring these children back to awareness gently, she advised—never by barking, "Hey! Wake up!"
Perhaps most disturbing to teachers are children who hurt others without seeming to care, Gootman said. These children "don't seem to have any conscience; they're cold, unfeeling." Such children have repressed their own suffering so deeply that they've turned off the ability to feel, destroying their empathy for others. "Pain is a foreign concept" to these children, she said. Although the actions of these children can make teachers feel queasy, teachers have a responsibility to try to break through to these children and not treat them like monsters.
Teachers must directly confront these children's hurtfulness, saying, for example, "When you hit Billy with the ruler, that hurts!" Teachers must also acknowledge the pain these children themselves feel, and make the classroom a safe place for them to express their pain. By helping these children accept their own feelings, teachers can help them become more empathetic.
Despite the difficulty of helping wounded children, Gootman emphasized the good that teachers can do. Children learn hopefulness from a caring adult, she said. "You don't have to be by the child's side all the time," she said. Even small signs of caring, if consistent over time, can help a child become a functional adult. "It's a look; it's a word; it's checking in with the child" from time to time that matters.
"We can't always solve their problems," Gootman conceded, "but that seed will stay there, and eventually it will flower" in most of the children. "You can make a difference."
Learning Nonviolence
Learning Nonviolence
Two alternatives confront students who get violent in the Ferguson-Florissant (Missouri) School District: a 90-day suspension, or a nine-week course called PAL, where they will learn “aggression replacement.” Based on work by Arnold Goldstein of Syracuse University, the PAL program teaches students how to avoid fights, control their anger, and empathize with others.
Role plays are central to the program. After discussing a particular skill, such as “dealing with another's anger,” the teacher models it. Then students role-play the skill repeatedly. Homework includes using the skill in a relatively safe context, such as math class when the student hasn't done his or her homework. Rather than blowing up in response to the teacher's rebuke, the student will “try to ride out the storm and not get put out of class,” said Pat Prager, who teaches the course.
The PAL program, which is funded with grant money, has been highly successful, Prager said. An independent researcher found that about 85 percent of PAL students showed “significant improvement” in their behavior, based on measures such as attendance, referrals, and grades. For more information, or to purchase PAL curriculum materials, contact the Ferguson-Florissant School District, 1005 Waterford Dr., Florissant, MO 63033.
