Violence in the classroom rarely happens in a vacuum. It is often the result of subtle, toxic forces that go unnoticed until a physical altercation occurs. While physical fights grab headlines, “quiet” violence—like social exclusion and humiliation—can be just as damaging. A new policy proposal by Celeste Hedequist suggests that if we want to stop bullying, we need to stop looking exclusively at the “perpetrator-victim” dyad and start looking at the “precursors to violence” embedded in the classroom environment.
Hedequist draws on psychological theory to highlight how factors like shame, humiliation, and isolation serve as primary triggers for aggression. A teacher who uses shame as a disciplinary tool, or who fails to manage the stress levels of the class, may inadvertently be creating a breeding ground for violence. The proposal references the “Four Roots of Evil” theory, which identifies a breakdown of self-control as a key cause of violence. Because young children and teenagers have developing prefrontal cortexes, they often lack the biological capacity to regulate their emotions in high-stress environments. When they feel cornered or shamed, they react with “humiliated fury.”
This is particularly relevant for female bullying, which Hedequist notes is often ignored because it is covert. Girls may gang up on a target, destroying her relationships “without a voice being raised or a punch thrown.” A leadership team that only looks for physical fights will miss this entirely. To counter this, Celeste Hedequist proposes a controversial but potentially game-changing metric: “upward reviews.”
This system would allow students to anonymously evaluate leadership on the classroom climate. Are they feeling shamed? Is the environment stressful? Is the teacher showing bias? By gathering this data, schools can identify toxic environments early. This shifts the focus from “what is wrong with this student?” to “what is wrong with this environment?” Combined with mandatory self-evaluation for teachers on their own biases and stress management, this approach aims to root out the environmental causes of bullying. It ensures that leadership is held accountable for creating a space where social-emotional safety is the norm, preventing the stress that leads to violence in the first place.
To read the full details of this transformative approach, you can view the complete proposal here: A New Policy Proposal for Reducing Violence & Aggression in the Classroom: A Focus on Leadership Responsibility for Outcomes