Teachers today work in classrooms where a large proportion of students have mental health disorders. Yet, because these teachers lack training in mental health issues, they often react to these students in ways that cause them to shut down or escalate their aggressive behavior. Other teachers, however, seem to intuitively understand how to connect…

Physical and mechanical restraints and seclusion are currently used as emergency procedures in public schools across the United States. Students who exhibit dangerous, aggressive, or self-injurious behaviors are more likely to be restrained or secluded in school. Since many students with autism spectrum disorder exhibit one or more of these…

Background: Epilepsy and challenging behaviour are both highly prevalent in the intellectual disability (ID) population and it is thus crucial to understand any possible associations between the two. Method: PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and Web of Science were searched for quantitative data about epilepsy and any forms of challenging…

When students with disabilities become agitated and physically aggressive, school resource officers (SROs) are often called to assist. This article addresses the question, "What is the role of the SRO when dealing with children who already have a behavior intervention plan (BIP) in place?" Faced with an increased presence of law…

The 22nd Workshop on Aggression was held in Limassol, the 2nd second largest urban area in Cyprus, in November 22-25, 2017, and was organized by the University of Cyprus. There were five keynote speakers, eight symposia, nine paper sessions and one poster session. In total, 78 high quality individual papers were presented, covering a broad area of…

Restraint and seclusion are crisis or emergency responses, which should only be used in extreme situations (e.g., a student engaging in repeated forceful physical aggression toward self or others) when risk of serious and imminent physical harm or injury is high and when an emergency response may reduce that risk. Restraint and seclusion are not…

Preventing and responding to intense problem behavior in schools has garnered increased attention. With recent attention focused on the restraint and seclusion of students with disabilities, educators are in need of effective ways to respond to student escalations that result in severe, disruptive problem behavior. By combining the research-based…

Despite having a classroom management plan in place when the year begins, teachers will encounter instances when student behavior blows up. The author discusses what to do when a student has a meltdown or in the aftermath of a fistfight when students are pulled out of class to deal with the consequences.

Gang affiliation is not something that students leave behind when they come to school. Gang members do not leave their behaviors, attitudes, and conflicts outside the school environment. Gangs, unchecked and unidentified in a school setting, often engage in threat and intimidation; physical and cyber bullying; fighting; recruiting; and criminal…

This article describes Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for Young Children (PTR-YC), a model based on extensive research that is designed for feasibility and effectiveness for treating challenging behaviors in classroom settings. This model is designed to meet the needs of children with and without disabilities who engage in challenging behavior that…

Cyberbullying is a pervasive problem among youth that has detrimental consequences on the social and emotional functioning of those involved. Cyberbullying results from the interaction of individual and environmental factors. Thus, strategies intended to address this type of bullying must look beyond individual characteristics and consider peer,…

Adolescence is the period between childhood and adulthood and the most important stage of a human being. Adolescence is a period of stress and storm. Students cannot adjust with their new-fangled role in life. They can have Emotional, Mental, Behavioural, and Adjustment problems known as "disorders". Behavioural patterns that appear in…

Children must be empowered to find their unique path to personal pride and respect. The concept of empowering youth is widely touted but often misunderstood and underutilized. Young people cannot fully develop their strengths and independence without being empowered to take charge of their lives. The polar opposite of coercion, empowerment is…

Children with symptoms of oppositional-defiant and conduct disorders (ODD/CD) pose significant challenges within educational settings. The worldwide prevalence among 6-18 year olds is 3.3% for ODD and 3.2% for CD (Canino, Polanczyk, Bauermeister, Rohde, & Frick, 2010). Students with conduct problems often display aggressive and antisocial…

Critical reflection (CR) is a process by which one may identify the assumptions governing one's actions, question them, and develop alternative behaviors. This article presents two cases that demonstrate the use of CR to raise social workers' awareness of gaps between what Schon and Argryis term social workers' "espoused theories" and the…