Hitting Social Story for Calm-Down Choices

A social story names the feelings of anger and frustration and offers a child three calm-down alternatives to hitting.

An educational teaching resource from SEN Resource Source entitled Hitting Social Story – Reassuring 7-Page Resource downloadable at Teach Simple.

Year groups: Not Year Specific
File type: PDF
Preparation: Print ready

Updated Feb 21, 2024

Subject: Social Skills, Social Emotional Learning (SEL), Special Resources
Topic: Social Story, Behaviour
Preparation: Print ready

From the author

About this resource

Hitting Social Story is a 7-page teaching resource that uses a reassuring tone to help children understand that hitting hurts others and is unacceptable behaviour. This social narrative is designed for repeated use to reinforce concepts and perspectives around physical aggression. It can be implemented in small groups, whole class discussions, or as a take-home assignment. The story explains social expectations in a patient yet direct manner, allowing children, especially those on the autism spectrum, to comprehend situations that may cause anxiety. Teachers can present this material to any student struggling with aggressive responses. Bind the printable pages or laminate them for durability. The engaging visuals depict realistic contexts involving physical aggression. This social skills resource helps educators initiate constructive dialogue around appropriate social conduct.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Student can name the feelings (angry, frustrated) that sometimes come before hitting.
Student can state that hitting is never an okay response, even when angry or frustrated.
Student can identify at least one alternative action to hitting (asking an adult, going somewhere quiet, taking deep breaths).

Teaching tips

Read the story with the child during a calm moment, not immediately after a hitting incident, so the strategies are learned rather than delivered as discipline.
Practice the three replacement strategies (asking for help, going somewhere quiet, deep breaths) as a role-play right after reading, so the child rehearses them before they are needed.
Revisit the closing line ('I will remember to not hit anyone.') as a personal reminder the child can repeat before a triggering situation.

Skills covered

Emotional identification — student reads and names the specific feelings (angry, frustrated) that precede a hitting incident.
Coping-strategy selection — student is introduced to three concrete calm-down choices to use instead of hitting.
Consequence awareness — student reads that hitting hurts others and can cost a friendship, connecting the behaviour to its social effect.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

How is this social story meant to be used with a child who hits?

It is designed to be read with or to the child as a calm, non-punitive way to name the feeling, affirm that anger and frustration themselves are okay, and rehearse three replacement behaviours before the moment happens again.