A conflict is escalating.
Two students are going at each other. Voices up, chairs pushed back, the rest of the room turning to watch. It hasn’t become physical and it might.
Send a specific student to get an adult, by name, out loud. Move the rest of the room away from it. Say one short thing to the two of them. Don’t get between them.
Why this happens
Most of these aren’t about you and aren’t really about this moment — something started earlier and you’re seeing the end of it. What turns an argument into a fight is almost always the audience: thirty people watching means neither student can stop without losing something in front of everyone they know. That’s why moving the room matters more than anything you say to the two of them, and it’s the part you can actually control.
Where the line is
- Yours: getting other students clear, getting an adult here fast, and saying one clear thing.
- Not yours: physically intervening, in any form. Not stepping between, not separating, not blocking, not holding. That is trained, it’s governed by policy you haven’t been given, and getting it wrong can injure a student or you.
- The office’s: everything after that. Who was involved, what happens next, and whether anyone leaves the room.
What to do
- Send one student for an adult, by name. “Marcus, get someone from the office, now.” Naming a person makes it happen. Asking the room doesn’t.
- Move the audience, not the two students. “Everyone at this table, back row.”
- Say one short, flat thing. “That’s enough. Sit down.” Not a lecture, not a question, not their names repeated.
- Don’t get between them and don’t touch anyone.
- When an adult arrives, hand it over completely and go back to the rest of the class.
Say this
K–2
“Stop. Come here.” Then send one of them to a different table — by instruction, not by hand. At this age it’s often over as fast as it started, and it still goes to the office.
3–8
“That’s enough. Both of you, sit.” Flat, once. Then get the room busy. This age escalates for an audience more than any other.
9–12
“I’m not doing this here. Sit down.” Older students usually know they’re being watched and will take an exit if you give them one that doesn’t require an apology.
If that doesn’t work
If it becomes physical, your job is the other twenty-eight students. Get them clear, get an adult, stay out of it. That isn’t passivity and it isn’t giving up — it’s the correct response, and it’s what you’d be told in the training you may never have been given.
In the note
Two students argued in fourth period. I sent for an adult and the office took it from there. Worth checking in with them.
From When it’s not yours to solve in The Sub’s Handbook.
Written by a substitute teacher, for substitute teachers. This is what’s worked in real classrooms — not official guidance, and not a substitute for your school’s policies or your district’s training. When something feels beyond you, it probably is: call the office. They’d rather hear from you early than late.
Open subin, the app the handbook comes from. Free to use.
Dan McSpirit is an active guest teacher and the author of The Sub’s Handbook. He built subin for the job he was doing at the time. More of his work is at danmcspirit.com.