A teacher’s job is one of the most challenging jobs in the world. Dealing with different kinds of people with different backgrounds, IQ levels, and nature daily tis not an easy task. Moreover, it becomes all the more difficult when you have to deal with disrespectful students. There are no definite solutions to this problem as they vary from teacher to teacher and also depend a lot on other factors. Factors like situations, the nature of the students, or even the frequency of the student’s disrespectful behavior can help you find the best remedy. However, there are some simple tips you can apply to deal with disrespectful students.

7 Tips to Deal with Disrespectful Students

1. Be Empathetic to the student

One of the most important ways to deal with disrespectful students is to put yourself in their shoes. Teenage years are difficult years with challenges like academic or peer pressure etc. Also, you do not know what is going on in a student’s personal life. It is very easy to blame one person for his behavior without knowing what his or her struggle is. As a teacher, you have some responsibility toward your students. Being empathetic is one of the most significant traits of a good teacher. Having empathy for your students makes you a human. Besides, it also helps to make a strong bond between you and your students.

2. Keep Calm

Going out of control is the first and instant reaction to bad behavior. But does that solve the situation? It never does. On the contrary, keeping your calm and being patient can help you solve a bigger problem that may not be seen at the moment. Many teachers tend to yell back at the students when they become disrespectful to teachers. But that aggravates the situation. Besides, it prevents the students from realizing their mistakes and opening up to the teachers.

3. Find the Reason

Most of the time the disrespectful students act as per the situation. So, it is easy to find the reason for their rude behavior. Try to analyze the situation and consider possible reasons. Is the student trying to control a situation? Is he deliberately trying to escape from the given assignments? If you look deep enough, you can find the reason. Also, teenagers at times behave rudely with their teachers to gain the attention of their peers. They think that being disrespectful to teachers might present them as a bold and smart person. So, as a teacher, you must understand your students and find the reason behind their rude behavior.

4. Talk to the student

The best way to understand anyone’s behavior is to know what is going on in their life. Disrespectful students might not like you talking to them openly in front of everyone. So, the best thing to do is to connect with him after the class is over. Keep a positive tone and do not sound authoritative. Talk to them normally and ask them openly about their issues with you. Make sure to understand if he or she is under stress since being stressed will prevent them from opening up. If a student reacts rudely for the first time, then you must talk to him to let him know how you felt about his reaction and then slowly go into the topic of his life. But if a student is repeatedly rude to you, then you must seek a way to talk to his parents.

5. Never take anything personally

Growing years come with a lot of challenges. Students often tend to do or say things that may not matter to them much. Also, feeling insecure or feeling too much pressure may at times result in an outburst from a student. So, as a teacher, never take anything too seriously. Most of the time, your students may not even mean what they are saying to you.

6. Start implementing small consequences

It is good to have some basic rules on etiquette in your classroom. Along with that, you must make it a rule to have some small consequences ready for disrespectful students. The student may lose out on some points or time on his favorite activity. You can also set a rule like when a student is disrespectful to you, he or she has to do extra homework. But all these rules depend on your classroom management skills.

7. Keep some phrases ready

Not all teachers are prepared to deal with difficult or rude students. Besides, a sudden disrespectful response from a student may shock them. The best way to deal with students who are disrespectful is to keep some positive phrases ready for any situation like this. Thus, it can help you in two ways. First, you will be able to keep your calm as the words will come out instantly. Second, you will be in control of the situation. Phrases like, “I can understand that are upset, can we talk about this later?” or “I really would like to know the issue you are facing, let’s talk once the class is over.” But remember to use your phrases as per the situation since everything depends on the kind of comments the student is using and also his body language and expressions.

Last but not the least, dealing with disrespectful students patiently and positively can prevent creating an unpleasant outcome for both you and the student. Also, do not forget to use your presence of mind to react properly to any comments from the students who are disrespectful to teachers.