Anxiety can look like disengagement or defiance, since avoidance, lateness, and refusal are all forms of anxiety. This is the ‘flight’ response that comes with fear, the core of anxiety. Anxious brains are therefore not misbehaving brains. Anxiety is a protective response, not a choice or a lack of motivation.

Teacher tips

1. Reframe the behaviour

See the student as fearful or struggling rather than being difficult.

2. Identify the threat with them if possible

Find out what might be a trigger through observation, discussion with the student or with other teachers.

3. Provide alternative behaviours

For example,  permit them to stop focus on the task and have a moment to calm or to break a task into small steps and attempt each one, one step at a time.

The Clear Fear app provides a range of activities to calm, including breathing, mindfulness, writing down emotions, or putting their worries away in ‘a worry box’ to be approached after the task. 

The ‘worry ladder’ helps planning a hierarchy of activities and to focus one each one, one step at a time.

Looking to support anxiety and resilience in school?

Explore Clear Fear for Schools.

Read more about managing anxiety in schools and colleges

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