Students get angry due to multiple reasons. How to tackle them becomes the primary question then. Tackling angry students can be done through various systematic methods which are explained below.
Do not respond with anger
Students are young and inexperienced about many things. Their anger should never be reciprocated with anger. They may get agitated and demonstrate their anger over various issues. Their anger may be directed towards any professor or against any staff member of the educational institution or even against the administration. Their way of expressing their ideas may anger you, but never respond to their questions angrily. This will further agitate them and make matters worse. Instead calmly try to resolve their problems. Remain as quiet as you can. If you also become agitated then it will lead to a fight between you and the students. Instead if you remain calm and quiet, the angry students will not be able to say much, as they will not be successful in getting you angry, which is essentially their motive. They will have to either listen to your response or else leave the anger aside. Your calmness will calm them down and give them a surety that their issues would be resolved.
Avoid preaching
The best way to deal with angry students is to refrain from preaching morals and ideologies to them when they are way too agitated to understand them. This may even increase their agitation as they will think you are giving them sermons on good behavior and in the process disarming them of their agitations. It is therefore best to give them short statements when they are angry. Many students are in the habit of getting angry instantly. For such students, talk with them at a time when they are calm and will be able to understand your concern for them. You can discuss with them the strategies and methods to avoid them getting angry over simple issues.
Forgive the students: Look kindly at them
You will realize that they are just like five year old who are crying because of a toy which has not been given to them. You will see that, when you see them from this perspective, immediately a sense of compassion and forgiveness will come to your heart. If a child accidentally steps on your feet in a bus, you will forgive him. In a similar fashion, the students are just like your children. Treat them with compassion and kindness and even the angry students will be overpowered by you. Kindness and compassion works wonders in these situations. When you forgive the students who have acted under the influence of anger, they will realize their mistake better and would not commit it again.
If you cannot handle them, fix a meeting with a supervisor
Students often are agitated to such an extent that they want instant results of their protests. This causes problems for the authorities and teachers of the educational institutions. They fail to realize the fact that all agitations cannot have such a fast result. Try to reason them out from demonstrating their anger. Reasoning often works out. Show them how this agitation will bear a future mark on their character when they will pass out from the institution. Also ask them to focus on the fact that if the authorities want they can even give a negative character testimonial which can cause problems in getting a job. Even after so much reasoning if they still remain stubborn in their agitations, fix a meeting with a supervisor. This will show them that they need to calm down at the present moment and get their ideas organized so as to have a talk with the supervisor. This will also make them realize that organized thoughts are also required to demonstrate agitations or for showcasing your anger.
Show them that they are ‘important’
It works wonders when angry students are made to feel important and shown that they are treated as important individuals. This gives a moral boost to their confidence and they at times calm down easily. You should tell them that they are important for the educational institution and that it is in their hands that the future of the educational institution depends. So it will be better for them to calm down and listen to your statement. Tell them, rather empathize with them that you will be able to help them only if they remain quiet. Target their frustration and empathize with them. Try to discuss with them the various rules, policies and regulations of the educational institution. Using emphatic phrases like âI can very well see that you are upset with the decisionâ or âI understand that it is very important for youâ also helps in controlling the angry students. These statements make you a friend and they readily will listen to your advices.
