Too often in education, behavior is addressed before it is understood. When educators pause to consider what a student may be experiencing beneath the surface, they allow opportunities to respond with intention, prevent escalation, and better support students.
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Understanding the Underlying Causes of Behavior in Children
Consider the following scenarios and how familiar they might seem.
- In a kindergarten classroom, a teacher notices a little girl who cries and hangs her head every time she is corrected. The teacher responds with comfort and empathy to help her build confidence. After weeks of these interactions, the teacher wonders if a counselor needs to be involved, because it’s clear that something deeper may be going on.
- In that same classroom, there is a little boy. Each time he is corrected or redirected, he stomps his feet, breaks his pencil, and stands up in frustration. This student is sent to the office on a discipline referral because his behavior is not following classroom expectations.
- In a high school math class, there is a teenage boy who continues to wear his hoodie up even though it’s against the dress code. Despite repeated reminders, the boy only lowers it for brief moments before putting it back on again. The teacher eventually gives him a discipline referral for not following the dress code.
What if all of these students in each scenario are experiencing the same underlying trauma and are expressing it in different ways?
Adults have been conditioned to see some behaviors as an acceptable signal for help, while interpreting other behaviors as defiance. Too often in education, staff judge behavior before taking the time to understand it. An educator or assistant principal might ask, “What’s wrong with this student?” instead of asking, “What burden might this student be carrying?”
Student behavior is often like the tip of an iceberg since it’s the only part we can see. Beneath the surface are the reasons for the behavior, such as
- difficulty coping with overwhelming emotions
- feeling unsafe
- stress at home
- hunger
- homelessness
- abuse of any kind
- neglect
No matter their role, adults bring their own upbringing and perspectives in how they interpret behavioral issues in children. What is perceived as defiance or disruption may simply be a different expression of distress, one that feels less familiar or less comfortable to the adult.
This is not to say that there should be no consequences for behavior that goes against classroom expectations, but consequences alone are not enough. Understanding that there is a cause for problematic behaviors in children starts with realizing that behavior is a form of communication. And every student, regardless of how that behavior shows up, deserves support.
How Trauma Affects Student Behavior
To better understand student behavior, we first have to understand trauma.
There’s a common term in education: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). These refer to specific high-stress or abusive events that occur before the age of 18.
Trauma, however, is not the event itself. It’s the way an individual responds to that experience. And no two people respond to the same event in the same way.
ACEs are more common than often realized. The CDC reports that three in four high school students have experienced at least one traumatic event in their childhood, and 20% report four incidents or more. Examples of ACEs can include
- experienced abuse or violence
- sudden loss of a family member (by accident or suicide)
- housing or food insecurity
Due to how common ACEs are, it’s even more important for educators to recognize how trauma responses may show up in the classroom.
When a person is faced with a threatening situation, the brain takes over and activates an automatic survival response. It’s commonly known as fight, flight, or freeze.
If you were hiking and suddenly encountered a bear, no one would question or judge how you reacted in that moment. But in a classroom, the response is not as forgiving.
When students react in these same ways, educators tend to assume they are choosing the behavior. They label it as defiance or disrespect, rather than recognizing it as a survival response.
In those moments, educators are not seeing a student who feels threatened but a behavior that should be controlled.
The Escalation Curve of Trauma Responses in Children
When students experience a trauma response, their behavior often follows a pattern known as the escalation curve, although not every student will follow the linearly. The curse is mean to assist educators in understanding how best to respond to a student.
- Calm
- Trigger
- Escalation (aka, agitation or acceleration)
- Crisis
- Recovery
The moment a student reaches the trigger phase, the educator’s response becomes critical. What happens next can either help de-escalate the situation or unintentionally intensify it.
As students begin to show signs of agitation, staff often respond with phrases like:
- “Calm down.”
- “Why are you doing this?”
- “What is wrong with you?”
- “If you don’t stop…”
While these responses are often intended to regain control of the situation, they can be experienced very differently by the student. Instead, the student may hear:
- You are not safe.
- You are in trouble.
- You are too much.
- You are not understood.
When this happens, the situation is more likely to continue escalating rather than resolve. What’s needed is a trauma-informed approach to help the student through the moment in a safer way.
Strategies to Help Students Regulate During a Trauma Response
It’s important to remember that the first priority is not compliance but regulation. Before a student can process, reflect, or respond appropriately, they need support in calming their nervous system.
There are a variety of strategies that can help.
- Physical or sensory strategies: get a drink of water, take a walk, practice deep breathing, hold a calming object
- Environmental strategies: reduce noise, lower your voice, create space
- Relational strategies: offer presence without pressure, avoid rushing, acknowledge feelings (e.g., “I can see you are frustrated.”)
- Chase-based strategies: “Would you like to sit here or take a quick break?” or “Do you want to talk now or in a few minutes?”
By helping a student regulate, adults help address the immediate situation and protect and strengthen their relationship with the child.
Only after a student has regulated their trauma response are they truly ready to process what happened. At that point, a consequence may still be appropriate, but it should be tied to the behavior and explained so the student understands why it is needed. Without that understanding, a consequence only reinforces the belief that they are bad, rather than helping them recognize how to respond differently in the future.
It’s also ideal for adults to help the student identify strategies they can use the next time they begin to feel escalated. The goal is not just to manage behavior in the moment but to build the student’s capacity to cope in the future.
Behavior Can Show Up as Physical Symptoms
While all school staff need to understand how students may escalate in response to trauma, they should also recognize that trauma does not always present in obvious or disruptive ways.
Students with at least one ACE are at a higher risk for depression and anxiety. They are also more likely to miss school and may struggle academically. These impacts are not always immediately visible, but they can significantly affect a student’s ability to engage and succeed in the classroom.
Some students, particularly those experiencing anxiety, may not be on an educator’s radar at first. Their behaviors are often quieter and easier to overlook. However, over time, these symptoms can intensify.
For example, a student may frequently visit the nurse complaining of a stomachache without even realizing that anxiety is the underlying cause of the physical symptoms. This is why it’s critical for all school staff to understand the causes of behavior in children so that someone like the school nurse can take ACEs into consideration when evaluating a student.
These students need support just as much as those whose behaviors escalate outwardly. While one student may express distress through disruption, another may internalize it in ways that are less visible. Some examples include
- headaches
- stomachaches
- memory problems
- fatigue
- dissociation
- anxiety
- sadness
- disordered eating
- intrusive thoughts
Being aware of the many ways that trauma can show up in children through physical or emotional symptoms is critical to helping them feel safe and supported as they navigate their experiences.
Why Trauma-Informed Care in Schools Matters
In recent years, there has been an increased emphasis to understand trauma and implement practices that support students who have experienced it.
Trauma-informed care is not just about awareness but also the corresponding action. The purpose of trauma-informed care training is to equip educators with the knowledge to better understand why students may be exhibiting certain behaviors, and more importantly, how to respond in ways that help de-escalate situations and support students.
An important part of trauma-informed care is creating a school environment where students feel safe, supported, and a sense of belonging. When students feel secure in their environment and relationships, they are better able to regulate, engage, and learn.
For many students, the classroom is not just a place for academic growth, but it might be the one place where they can feel safe, understood, and valued.
Thinking back to that kindergarten classroom with new understanding, the little girl and boy are no longer so different. Both of their behaviors are communicating something deeper than what is seen on the surface. Both are responding in the only ways they know how. And both need understanding and support.
While so many already do, all educators, staff, and administrators need to change how they view behavior in children. Rather than seeing it as something to control, it’s something that needs understanding.
Doing that will empower staff to move beyond simply managing students in the moment. Instead, they’ll begin to impact how students experience school, which leads them to academic success and safer schools for everyone.
Dr. Amy Grosso
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