When Suspension Isn’t Enough:
Rethinking How Schools Respond to Aggression

In schools, we often use terms such as “physical aggression” or “physical attack.”

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But when a teacher ends up in the emergency room after being hit by a student, we need to be honest about what we are really talking about.​ This is a real problem in schools, and I am not sure we have the best solutions in place.

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Federal education data shows that more than 150,000 public school teachers report being physically attacked by a student each year in the United States (National Center for Education Statistics, 2024).

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Too often, the response is suspension, referral, or a move to a more restrictive setting.

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There may be times when those actions are necessary, especially when immediate safety is a concern.​ But if suspension alone truly worked as a behavior-change strategy, we would not continue to see the volume of repeated aggressive incidents that many schools experience.

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That does not mean there should be no consequences. There absolutely should be.

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But consequences should do more than create temporary distance. They should help reduce the likelihood that the behavior happens again.

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The students engaging in these behaviors are often clearly struggling.

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Sometimes disability-related needs are involved. Sometimes environmental or family factors are involved. Sometimes both.​ None of that excuse's serious aggression.

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But if we want the behavior to change, we must address the reason it is happening and teach them what to do instead.

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Adults struggle with frustration, too.

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If a vending machine takes our money and does not give us the item, many adults will hit the machine, bang on the buttons, or escalate in anger.

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Yet we expect children and adolescents, many of whom lack fully developed emotional regulation skills, to manage frustration better than adults do.​ That expectation is unrealistic unless we intentionally teach and reinforce those skills.

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This is not solely the school’s responsibility.

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It must be a collaborative effort between schools, families, and the broader community. In my experience, some of the best outcomes happen when schools and parents work together honestly, without blame, and stay focused on prevention and support.

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That said, we also must acknowledge the reality for staff.

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When a teacher, aide, counselor, principal, or other team member has been seriously hurt, they may still be physically recovering or feeling afraid long after the incident.​When behavior specialists come in afterward and ask, “What can we do differently next time?” that can feel like blame.

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But the intent is not to blame.​ The intent is prevention.

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The question is not, “Whose fault is this?” The question is, “How do we keep this from happening again?”

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​Staff deserve safety. Students deserve support. Both things can be true at the same time.

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I have also seen teachers wrestle with whether to press charges after being seriously injured by a student.

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Often, what they really want is not punishment for the sake of punishment. They want the student to get help.​ Unfortunately, that is not always what happens.

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In many cases, because of age or disability-related factors, legal consequences do not lead to meaningful intervention.​ When families are unable or unwilling to access outside services, schools are left trying to manage severe safety needs with limited resources.

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Another challenge that rarely gets discussed openly is how discipline decisions are structured within schools.

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In most districts, school administrators carry the responsibility for maintaining safety, enforcing the code of conduct, responding to parent concerns, and supporting staff.​These decisions are rarely simple.

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They involve balancing student rights, staff safety, district policy, and the practical realities of running a school.

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Because of this structure, discipline decisions are largely handled at the building level.

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While districts may provide guidance, behavior support teams, or ESE recommendations, the way discipline is implemented can vary from school to school.

​Some administrators emphasize prevention and intervention whenever possible.​Others rely more heavily on disciplinary responses outlined in the code of conduct.

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Neither approach typically comes from a lack of caring or effort. Most school leaders are doing their best under significant pressure and with limited resources.

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However, this structure can sometimes result in students cycling through repeated suspensions or extended in-school suspension placements without meaningful behavioral intervention occurring during that time.​ While those consequences may address immediate safety concerns, they do not always teach the skills needed to prevent the behavior from happening again.

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District-level involvement often occurs only when concerns escalate to formal complaints or legal issues.

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At that point, the district may intervene to resolve the individual case.​ But resolving a specific situation does not always lead to broader changes in how behavior is addressed within a school building.

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Over time, academic expectations in schools have increased dramatically.

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Kindergarten classrooms that once focused heavily on social development and emotional learning are now expected to meet rigorous academic standards.​ At the same time, many teachers receive little formal training in behavior analysis, de-escalation strategies, or function-based intervention.

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Schools are expected to meet strict academic schedules while also responding to increasingly complex behavioral needs.

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Yet we spend far less time explicitly teaching the skills many students need most:

• Emotional regulation

• Frustration tolerance

• Communication

• Safe ways to respond when things do not go their way​​

 

 

Federal workplace safety data also shows that teachers experience workplace violence injuries at roughly twice the rate of workers across all other occupations (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024).

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If we want different outcomes, we may need a different approach:

 

More behavioral expertise in schools

More honest collaboration with families

More training for educators

More time devoted to explicitly teaching behavior​​

 

 

No teacher should go to work expecting to be assaulted.

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No student should go without the help they need to learn safer ways to cope, communicate, and regulate.

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And no school system should accept repeated serious aggression as something we simply react to rather than systematically address.

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We can hold firm boundaries.
We can protect staff.
We can support students.

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But we must move beyond responses that are not producing lasting change.

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References

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Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2024). Injuries and illnesses resulting from workplace      violence among school teachers. U.S. Department of Labor.
https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2024/workplace-violence-injuries-teachers.htm

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National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). Teacher victimization by students: Selected years, 1993–94 through 2020–21. U.S. Department of Education.
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/a05