Shame Solutions: How Shame Impacts School-Aged Children and What Teachers Can Do to Help

Though many psychologists and researchers argue over the age at which humans first experience shame, all agree that by age two children have the capacity to be shamed (CitationLansky and Morrison 1997). School-aged children have invariably been exposed to shame at home and receive an extra dose of it in our current school system. This essay investigates shame theory and explores how societal shaming practices manifest themselves in our schools, specifically examining the negative effects of shame on human development. Alternative pedagogical strategies—those that avoid shame and shaming—are discussed and endorsed.