What is acting out

Acting out is the act of performing extreme behaviour in order to express thoughts or feelings the child feels
incapable of otherwise expressing.
This can be because they have been through some kind of trauma. There are 3 types of trauma,

Simple Trauma
o This type of trauma involves experiences of events that are life threatening and/or have the
potential to cause serious injury
For example: car accidents, house fires, bushfires, earthquakes and cyclones
o There is no stigma and societal blaming of the victim
o Support groups and community responses are usually helpful for people who experience
simple trauma

Complex Trauma
o This type involves interpersonal threats, violence and violation
For example: child abuse, domestic violence, rape, war and imprisonment
o It is associated with stigma and a sense of shame experiences by its victims
o The victims will feel disconnected from the support of others and do not feel like belonging
to a group (they feel isolation and sometimes a sense of betrayal)

Developmental Trauma
o This type includes children who are neglected, abused, forced to live with family violence
and experience high parental conflict in the context of separation or divorce
o Because a childs brain is so malleable, the impact of trauma is faster to manifest
The childs development can be slowed down or be impaired
o Children are dependable on adults hence are more affected when it is these adults who caused
harm for them

Responses and Strategies

Identifying signs

damaging or vandalizing property

harming or threatening other people or pets
self-harm
lying
stealing
truancy or poor academic performance
smoking, drinking alcohol, or drug abuse
early sexual activity
frequent tantrums and arguments
consistent anger and rebellion against authority figures

Difference between acting up and acting out

Acting out is NOT acting up.

Acting up is the conscious, deliberate misbehaviour while acting out is the behaviour which is caused
by suppressed emotions.
Example: In relation to trauma (I suggest not writing all of it in the powerpoint but talk about it
instead. Maybe write down a substitute teacher has taken over the class for today or something
like that)
At school, even the smallest changes in routine of traumatised children can trigger physiological, emotion and
behavioural responses.
A substitute teacher taking the class is a major change to the experience of predictability for traumatised children. At
the news of the substitute teacher arriving, the students internal sensory pathway triggers off the stress responses of
the brain-body system. They start to feel agitated and revert to their most basic ways of coping with an experience
they perceive as a threat.
They start to distract their own attention from their internal feelings of distress. They act out pass behavioural routines
that were effective in diffusing the threat and stress in the past. (Run away from class, make funny but inappropriate
comments, and pick a fight with another child)
[This is acting out because at the news of the substitute teacher, the students brain triggered the stress responses and
the student coped with this by above behaviour. However, if the student was acting up, it would just be because the old
teacher wasnt there to keep him/her in check, or the student doesnt like the new teacher and this is just an
opportunity to misbehave]
How teachers respond
Referring to the example,
The substitute teachers response at this time is crucial. If the teacher engages in limit-setting and assertive classroom
management techniques, it is likely that the students alarm state and behaviour will intensify.
The teacher could help reset the students internal state by focusing on what has stayed the same with the class even
though the teacher has temporarily changed. This could involve praising the usual classroom teacher to the class and
maintaining the same routines.
Past Stats
Did you know
-

That acting out had 25.1% of youths receiving mental health services
That students with disabilities had rates for acting out higher than students without disabilities.
o A higher rate of 31.0% of students with disabilities from grade 1 to 12 has acting out compared to the
15.1% of students without disabilities.

(Aifs.gov.au)