The Peacemaking Course that the author teaches to school personnel in New York City starts with the unaccustomed premise that the teacher or school official unconsciously provokes or escalates incidents by reacting in counterproductive ways. Thus, the teacher in the case example asks to see the student's hall pass rather than opening the conversation with a friendly greeting and establishing a positive link with the student. The teacher's body position, gestures, and words all increased the student's sense of discomfort and resulted in a verbal outburst. The teacher was functioning on an action-reaction basis, responding to the student's actions rather than concentrating on possible desirable and acceptable outcomes. Thus, behavior that appeared at first to be reasonable and innocuous in fact made the situation worse. Illustrations.