Addressing student misbehaviors: Educators need training to be proactive

by Lydia Lucien Collins, Guest Commentary, Arkansas Advocate
March 21, 2025

Jackson starts the day in my 2nd grade class sitting criss-cross applesauce during carpet time and solving  math story problems. He frequently ends the day by shoving chairs and screaming at his classmates.

It was while taking large balloon breaths to control his feelings that Jackson blurted out, “I’m angry!” He told me it was because his mom was in prison and he couldn’t see her. Until then, I hadn’t fully realized how much of Jackson’s outside life was finding its way into our classroom, affecting him and our entire learning community.

Student behavior problems are on the rise and are getting more serious. According to America’s Health Rankings, 52 percent of children in Arkansas have experienced one or more adverse childhood experiences (stressful or traumatic childhood events), higher than the national average of 39 percent. Jackson working through his mother’s incarceration is just one  example.

To support Jackson, I researched strategies to help him regulate his emotions. When he became angry, we practiced “throwing fireballs,” acting like we were tossing things into the air very quickly. We found ways to name his feelings, and he became more and more comfortable asking me for a break when he needed time to reset.

He is feeling and learning better, but growth isn’t a linear process. There are still days when  Jackson has emotional or behavioral outbursts, when I need to ask him, “What is another way you could’ve handled this?”

I’m not the only teacher in Arkansas who needs to help students manage their emotions and learn how to process their trauma in healthy ways. Educators in our state need training in trauma-informed care and practices.

If I had better preparation in topics such as deescalation of behaviors and self-regulation, I would have been able to help Jackson much sooner. If I had a toolkit of coping strategies for him to self-regulate and reset, I would’ve also been able to help him identify his emotional triggers.

Such training for educators should include student scenarios so that teachers can practice identifying root causes of behaviors like pushing furniture around the classroom. When I first saw this behavior in my classroom, I was unsure what led to it and how to handle it. I didn’t understand why Jackson was behaving the way he did; I was not proactively helping him to adjust to my classroom. It took me a while to understand that Jackson needed consistent expectations and clear boundaries, in addition to a calm, safe place to take a break.

The Arkansas LEARNS Act underscores  the “importance of prioritizing school safety by focusing on physical security, additional resource officers, and mental health and training to implement best practices.” Who better than teachers — often the first touchpoint for a student — to receive this training?

The next step is to allocate funding to make this vital professional learning possible. The Arkansas Department of Education, for example, could offer grants, encouraging schools to apply for staff trauma-informed training specific to the needs of their students. The application could take into account the school safety report, which provides more insight into the school’s demographics.

Eligible criteria to receive funding could be based on the demonstrated percentage of students in the school impacted by adverse childhood experiences. In my school, students would particularly benefit from having teachers who were better trained in coping strategies. Behavioral outbursts frequently occur when students get upset and have difficulty calming down.

Jackson ended the year taking deep breaths and calmly asking me: “Mrs. Collins, is it okay if I take a break? I’m frustrated.” Self-regulation and naming his emotions are the skills that will help him succeed beyond my classroom. Let’s make sure that educators have the tools they need to give Arkansas students like Jackson the support they need to deal with any and all experiences life might throw at them.

Note: The student’s name has been changed to protect their privacy.

This article has been updated to show the correct author.

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