Academic Advising

Dealing with Difficult and/or Dangerous Students

Students have many challenges and stressors, and differing levels of resiliency, distress tolerance, and coping skills. Some situations may cause students to become overwhelmed by their circumstances and these students may project their distress outwardly. Here are some tips for dealing with such situations.

Safety Precautions

  1. Protect your own safety and that of your co-workers.
    • Never be in the office area alone with a student (have a secretary/student worker, someone available to call for help if needed).
    • Never leave a colleague alone in the office with a student.
    • If a solitary colleague is still working on a project, lock the outside office door when you leave for the day.
    • Have a built-in emergency protocol.
      • call in the director or assistant director (i.e. intercom)
      • alert the director or assistant director if dealing with a volatile student
    • Never have your desk or chair placed so that you cannot readily remove yourself from the room or become blocked from an exit.
    • Pay attention to your intuition and those little hairs on the back of your neck.
    • Better safe than sorry. Err on the side of caution.
    • On-campus emergency number is 911.
  2. De-escalate/defuse the situation --
    • Remain calm. Take nothing personally. Reflect the calm, concerned professional you are to the student as much as you feel safe doing so.
    • Never touch a student.
    • Gently encourage the student to go to a quiet, safe area while they regain their composure.
    • Express concern for the student; attempt to communicate concern (i.e., "I can see that you are upset.").
    • Do a "check up" on yourself ("check" what you are communicating):
      • breathing
      • quiet, calm voice (soothing)
      • body language (open and relaxed)
      • hands open and relaxed, avoiding movement as much as possible
    • Allow the student to ventilate and reflect his/her feelings back, i.e., "that must have felt…" or "you must be feeling…"
    • Distract the student until help arrives.