The frequency of fighting in schools has been on the rise. The CDC found in 2019 during a survey that “8% of high school students had been in a physical fight on school property one or more times during the 12 months before the survey.” As school leaders, it can feel daunting to address fighting as there are so many factors that contribute to an altercation. Here are some ideas for preventing fighting and ideas on how to respond to fights.
Elizabeth Janca, experienced school administrator, licensed professional counselor, and Possip Reporter shares ways to prevent and respond to fighting in school.
Preventing Fighting
We can influence several factors that reduce the amount of fighting on campus. The most influential factors include relationships with students, strong classroom management, ways to identify students who seem to be struggling, and anonymous reporting.
Strong culture and relationships with students will allow for a foundation of rapport. Creating a safe and comfortable environment for students invites them to feel safe and want to approach teachers and administrators when they’re struggling. Without this, students will more likely avoid seeking support. Additionally, these relationships help adults to identify students who appear frustrated or exhibit a behavioral change and pull them aside to talk.
Essential for student safety in general, strong classroom management can lend itself to decreasing unpleasant student engagement with one another. Set clear expectations early and stay consistent with those expectations. Consider strong relationships and rapport with students as one element of successful classroom management.
Create ways to identify students who seem to be struggling early. Students who need help can receive interventions like a referral to the counselor or frequent check-ins with a teacher with whom they have strong rapport. This can be done through MTSS, grade-level meetings, and tracking trends through your discipline system. For specific guidance on Reacting to Bullying, check out this Possip article.
Anonymous reporting can be helpful in receiving information about rumored planned fights. With these reports, you can connect with the potential students to provide support and conflict resolution before it escalates.
Responding to Fighting
While we do the best we can, we cannot prevent all fighting. Have a plan or protocol in place to follow in response to a fight on campus. Having a plan in place can alleviate some of the stress associated with responding to fights as many decisions will have been considered previously and made impartially.
Here is a suggested plan of action:
1. Separate the Students
Identify locations for staff to take individuals after a fight. These spaces should be away from other students to help the individual de-escalate such as the conference room, assistant principal’s office, ISS room, etc.
2. Use Coping Skills
Help individuals de-escalate with coping skills, starting with a focus on breathing. Once in a calm or calmer state, students will be able to provide more information and talk about what happened in a way that is productive. Click here for a list of different types of coping strategies.
3. Gather Statements
Be a calm presence and use active listening skills. Ask clarifying questions and ask students to be as specific as possible. Tip: Have students write out their statement then go through the statement with them asking clarifying questions like “who is ‘they’?” and verifying the last name of identified students.
4. Convene Your Team
Meet with your team to discuss the statements gathered and identify consequences. Tip: Consequences can include a combination of ISS, OSS, community service, restorative conversations, and conflict resolution.
5. Inform The Families
Reach out to the families to share information about the incident, assigned consequences, and any next steps the families need to know.
6. Complete Paperwork
Complete any necessary paperwork, especially if it will require a parent’s signature when they pick up their child. With the information fresh in your mind, it may be quicker to fill out the information now rather than at a later time.
7. Plan the Return to School
When the students return to campus, have an administrator or school counselor connect with them to see how they are doing and revisit expectations of student behavior.
8. Hold Accountability
Check in with students to ensure they complete any community service requirements, restorative conversations, or conflict resolution conversations required.
Requests from families to communicate information regarding fighting have become a frequent trend. It may be helpful to share with families what regulations are in place due to federal law and district policy regarding the communication of on-campus incidents. For example, you may share with families that communication of physical incidents involving 3 or fewer students won’t be shared with families due to FERPA, but larger-scale incidents that impact safety or cause a lockdown/shelter-in-place will be shared with families.
Consider sharing with families examples of what consequences can be expected for what behaviors in the student handbook. For example, detail the consequences of a student engaging in one fight versus three. While the consequences will not always be the same, referring back to what is laid out for families can be a good starting point during conversations in Step #4 of your post-fight process.
