I went to a
School District training on Saturday to give me tips on how to deal with kids with severe behavior problems. I am not talking about the normal 80% of the population, who typically learn with punishments and rewards, kids who can accept blame for their actions the people who can “Play the Game”. We are not even talking about the 11% of population who tend to blame others for their behavior or who will not respond to authority. Some of their behavior may be taught in the environment they were raised in. These people can be dealt, mostly, without taking them out of the environment they are in. Most are able to live by society’s rules, but only by blaming authority or society for any negative actions they were “forced” into. Some of the people in this group will join the other 80% in leading productive lives some will join this next group that the training was focusing on.
We were talking about the 9% of population who will never stop their behavior because an authority says so. This group will not accept responsibility for their actions. Typically, this group of people, has to be removed from their environment to make changes to their behavior, but will return to their old ways as soon as they are back into their normal environment.
In many cases these people know what they are doing, know it is wrong, yet they will sneak and connive to do whatever they please, often you will not catch on with out being sneaky yourself.
- For example - This boy is a fire starter, they knew it was him, but could never catch him because he would never be around when the fires were found. A teacher decided that she would follow him and watch him for a week, she had to hide, for if he knew she was there he would play by the rules. As she watched she found his triggers, then when the stress built up, he set a fire, then he was fine. He would seek out is opportune moment, he would wait until a classroom crises, when the focus was not on him. They are working with him today, to teach him, his friends, and family how to spot potential triggers and fix them before he blows. It is going slow but they are seeing progress.
It is said that, this 9% of the population, without help, will never be a productive person of society. They say this group will probably serve time in jail sometime in their lives, and will probably return. Many people with severe mental disabilities may fit into this group, when dealing with these issues they are considered "Roadblock" or "Traits" that you cannot change, just manage, unlike behavior which can be taught . The sad thing is they say that early intervention is the key to helping this 9%. They say that there are three key contributing factors in getting a person out of this group is, (1) Early intervention before the age 8, (2) Behavior Management plans and teaching proper behavior, and (3) a life partner who will help implement or manage the behavior plan through out their life. Most will not make it out of this group.
These are just statistics and can vary from area to area; many different factors come in to play…economics, family structure, social issues...and so much more. When dealing with children in this group, the new theory is to “teach” good behavior instead of stopping bad. How can we NOT stop the bad behavior? Remember this group does not respond to rules or authority. Telling them to STOP will not work. Instead we should ask …WHY? Why are they behaving this way? What are the gains to the behavior? Are they seeking attention? Are they seeking necessities of life? Are they avoiding a difficult situation? Then once you have those answers it easier to apply a behavior management plan and avoid the triggers causing the behavior. First step is to question, the second step is to teach them to avoid and manage their “Triggers”.
- For example…3rd grader Bobby can’t read, whenever the teacher asks that he read out loud, he causes distractions in the classroom, outbursts, violence, disrespect. Solution of the past is to remove him from the classroom, but this does not fix his problems, he is getting exactly what he wants, out of an uncomfortable situation, a reward. After watching him for a while they found that his “trigger” is the thought of reading out loud in front of his peers, or the fear of failing. We now know the “why”, so how do we fix it? We pull him out of class at reading time and tutor him one on one with a lot of positive feed back. Once he is confidant enough he will be able to sit through reading with his class and might even participate. His “trigger”… is fear of failure so we need to teach self esteem, teach him to understand that his best is different then Miss Suzy straight A’s.
The older generation in the class on Saturday was stuck on changing society, removing sex and violence from TV, changing the system… they were saying that until society changes we cannot make changes. I think I heard “back in my day” more time then I needed. Yes the past was a pleasant place to live, but it is not a place we will ever see again. We must adapt and change to meet the new generations. As teachers the major changes in society is out of our hands, we all agree TV is no good, but how many of us turn it off? We are all still watching. Society will change and we must/will adapt. We cannot provide a stable home life for very child, we cannot change bad parenting, and we cannot remove sex and violence from the media. We can only adapt and change the way we teach and the way we show progress of a student and the way we manage our classrooms and schools.
To most at this training it sounded like the odds are against us, if the 9% can’t or won’t change, why try? With only six hours a day at school, we cannot out weigh the 18 hours they spend in the community. The reason why we continue to work with this 9% instead of locking them up….is because these are statistics and there is always an exception to the rule…if you make the difference with one kid, it is worth it!
Points to Ponder –
- Alaska has over 700 students that were removed from their home environment to an out of state school to learn behavior management. Statistic show that once they return they will go back to old behavior.
- One third of Alaskans students will drop out of High School.
- 3% of students will drop out before the end of JR High.
- 30% of the USA’s High School graduates cannot read.
- Is it fair to Joey with an IQ of 58, to be graded on the same level as Cindy who has an IQ of 130? Joe will never get reach the standard A grade, so why should he keep trying?
The schools system is still meeting the needs of those who can “Play the Game”, 75% to 80% of the population. Where I would worry is if your child is in that other 20%, that 11% of teetering students or the 9%, that people have given up hope on, these children need IEP (Individual Education Plans) or they will be left behind with the No Child Left behind Act. Remember it is not SECIAL ED…its Individualized Education.
... I will go back when I am alone and get a cutting.
...I wish he would come home with me.
... I will go back when I am alone and get a cutting.
...I wish he would come home with me.
