Strategies in
Reducing Violence for Teachers

1. Develop a school atmosphere which promotes acceptance and nonviolence. Do not allow physical or emotional threats or behaviors in your school. Take seriously acts of bullying, minor violence, intimidation, etc. Teach your students conflict resolution skills, how to respond to a bully, and self-protection skills such as how to call 911 and how to stay safe when parents are fighting.
2. Be aware of the potential for violence. Look for signs in students that they are angry and about to lose control. Get training in how to de-escalate and intervene safely with physically violent students. Know how to stay calm in a crisis, who to call for help, and how to protect yourself and your students. Make sure you have a communication system between your classroom and the office. Do a school safety audit on a regular basis.
3. Provide appropriate supervision. Use supervision times to connect with students and to teach appropriate social skills.
4. Teach the social skills necessary to build positive relationships. Skills such as conflict resolution, peer mediation, resisting peer pressure, personal safety, and how to maintain healthy personal boundaries will all help reduce violence and promote emotional health.
5. Ensure safety, consistency, and security at school by providing a structured and predictable environment with limits and rules. Be consistent in how you reward success and deal with misbehavior.
6. Give each and every student a feeling of belonging. Build class cohesion through cooperative learning and acceptance. Make every student feel you believe in his or her worth as an individual. Build students’ self-esteem through high expectations, giving choices, and positive support/praise.
7. Teach and model respect for all people and all ideas/beliefs.
8. Teach emotional expression and a full continuum of feelings. Model and teach safe and healthy ways to express feelings through talking, art, music, writing, exercise, etc.  Model appropriate nurturing interactions with others.
9. Teach independence and the ability to take a risk by encouraging students to make their own choices. Give each child a sense of being a worthwhile individual separate from their family’s problems. Build initiative by modeling the courage to be imperfect and the ability to recover from mistakes.
10. Be honest in letting students know what you can and cannot do to help. Do not make promises you cannot keep. These students already do not trust adults, so model behaviors that will not further erode any small amount of trust they may have developed in you.
11. Teach stress management skills. Reduce stress in your classroom. Create an atmosphere that is safe and calm. Healthy humor relieves stress and builds resilience. Provide opportunities for play, fun, and joy in the students’ lives. Encourage them to participate in extracurricular activities and develop their own talents.
12. Refer students and parents to appropriate resources at school and within the community, especially for individual or group counseling. Be willing to listen and offer help and support.
13. Be a positive role model at all times.  Show the students a better way and give them love, support, and understanding.
14. Take care of yourself. Working with students from difficult homes is emotionally exhausting. Be careful not to become overly involved with these students. Develop your own self-care techniques for stress reduction. Recognize symptoms of compassion fatigue and do what you need to do to keep yourself healthy and emotionally grounded.
15. Give parents and families support.  Serve as a resource to parents about community services, including domestic violence services.
16. Be active in your community’s or school’s development of community programs which address violence. Support community and public policies which make it clear that violence is not acceptable and that promote the safety of victims and their children.  Community programs can offer shelter, counseling and therapy, substance abuse treatment and prevention, medical assistance, advocacy and legal services, academic tutoring, and mentoring for students and families who are at risk.
17. Encourage community training for school personnel, social service workers, law enforcement officers, etc. so people who work with families and children recognize the symptoms and understand the effects of domestic violence.
18. Be aware of the symptoms of domestic violence in your co-workers.  It is highly likely that some member of your school faculty is involved in an unhealthy relationship which may include domestic abuse.