Often when children begin physically fighting or acting out in Japanese classrooms, the teacher will simply ignore it, or verbally reprimand the combatants if things are getting too out of hand but still stand to the side and not actively get involved. Professor Joseph Tobin of Arizona State University said that the teachers aren't being lax. Instead, acting as if they don't see the fighting is "a performance intended to encourage the girls to relate to each other and solve their own problems rather than" turning to the teacher. One American teacher who taught in Japan told Hopgood that she was concerned that sometimes Japanese teachers didn't interfere when they should, but Hopgood tried letting a few physical arguments her daughter had with other children run their course, as long as they weren't getting too violent, and found that the children often resolved the issue themselves.
