How to handle a student panic attack or outburst during class
When students get into verbal fights or storm out, teachers must manage the crisis in the hallway while simultaneously continuing to teach the rest of the class. Standard calming techniques like square breathing or sensory exercises often fail during panic attacks, leaving educators feeling like nothing they do actually helps.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Providing comfort objects or weighted plushies for upset students to hold or hit in class or in the hallwayDid this help you?
- 2Stepping into the hallway with an upset student to help them calm down away from peersDid this help you?
- 3Hiding/storing calm-down items between class periods so other students do not misuse themDid this help you?
- 4Trying grounding techniques like square breathing, the five senses method, or peaceful visualization.Did this help you?
- 5Providing cold water, an ice pack, or a weighted blanket to disrupt the anxiety cycle.Did this help you?
- 6Setting strict boundaries and redirecting the student to the school counselor or nurse instead of accommodating the interruption.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Yesterday in 6th period 2 freshman girls got into a verbal fight. It was bad. One stormed out, banging the door on the way out. I took the other out to the hall to calm down, then had to proceed with the rest of class.”source ↗
“I always had to put Sponge and Pat away at the beginning and end of classes so incoming students don't find them and start throwing them during transition time (the plushies were oval shaped and I taught a lot of the football players).”source ↗
“I recently had a student (not current, but previous) call me out to the hallway because they were having a panic attack. I felt like it didn’t matter what I did (square breathing, the senses thing, etc.) and it didn’t help.”source ↗
“The student said they didn’t want to and I should’ve pushed back a little harder on that.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 3What to do when my child cries over small things?
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