School safety, security, and violence prevention resource

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KEEP SCHOOLS SAFE

September 22, 2009

If I am nothing else, I am peripatetic. I travel a lot and train a lot. Which is why you haven’t read anything from me in the past two weeks. But I’m back for a while so mayhap I can suggest a few more tricks for managing disruptive students. Hell, they worked pretty well for me with some of the most antisocial parolees in the state of Pennsylvania.  Should work for you, also.

THE SECRET TO HANDLING THOSE NASTY, NASTY VAPS (VERBAL ATTACK PATTERNS).

This is going to be quick and sweet, so listen up teachers (and security, and resource officers, and even parents). The real and true trick to putting down those nasty, intimidating, profane, and all too personal verbal attacks is not to put down the disturbed student at all.

As in the sport of judo, the key is to stay centered, balanced, to stay within oneself and to use the force of the emotionally unbalanced student against him or her. The true professional should be open to the philosophy at the very center of judo. The ineffective fighter who goes up against a 200 plus-pound student will confront the student and each will push against each other with all their might. The true judo artist, however, will not throw his weight against his opponent, but instead he will “become the bullet: as we say in law enforcement and not use his weight against his opponent, but instead will become one with his opponent, allowing his adversary to charge while he sidesteps and allows the attacker to be foot swept to the deck.

The formula to keep in mind for defusing disruptive students, then, is ME Tripled. Maximum Effectiveness and Maximum Efficiency with Minimal Energy!

STRIP PHRASES- THE ART OF DEFLECTION.

I believe the key to the ME Tripled philosophy lies within the Verbal Judo technique called Strip Phrases. The gist of Strip Phrasing is to deflect rather than absorb verbal attacks. You need to keep in mind that the goal of most verbal attacks is to anger or influence you into losing your professionalism by misusing your words and actions. You should also keep in mind that, if you allow a student to piss you off to the point that you lose control, it is the student who is in control of that interaction, and, possibly many interactions thereafter.

By deflecting personal attacks and insults rather than absorbing them you stay in control of yourself. Your ego is in check and, most importantly, because you easily and coolly parried the incoming insults, you have disempowered the student and empowered yourself.

The key to the Art of Deflection is centered around you responding professionally, not personally to VAPs. This won’t be easy in the face of ugly personal insults, intimidation and patent disrespect. Not easy, yet responding professionally is what you must do.

Teacher: Jon, I really would appreciate it if you stopped talking while I’m trying to teach—

Jon: (Standing Up and raising a fist)” Perkins, I’ll talk anytime I want to, you fat bastard!”

Teacher: (Mr. Perkins natural instinct is to lash out at the student, to grab him and choke him. Perkins, however, takes a breath, waits a couple seconds to assure his voice is steady and he tries to deflect the nasty VAP as professionally as possible).

Teacher: “I hear that, Jon, fact is, I have put on a few pounds lately, but I need you to sit yourself down now.”

The formula for successful deflection is to jump over the insult. In the above scenario, Perkins jumped over “you fat bastard” with the Strip Phrase of “I hear that, Jon,” and, “I have put on a few pounds lately.” Perkins deftly refuses to react to the VAP with the phrase “I hear that,” followed by the word “but.” The key to the phrase is that every word after but is professional language designed to fulfill your professional objective.

Stay Safe.

Hammer

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