Discipline/Punishment

Discipline or Punishment
Ch 12 & 13

I can’t help but wondering if giving putting the onus of responsibility back onto the student overarches all of the bumps (1-5) we have reviewed so far.  This in turn infers choices.  This seems to be the crux of all the strategies whether they are squaring off, low-key, or giving defined choices.  Page 265, “Since the strategy is to get the teacher to assume responsibility for the situation (by becoming angry), the teacher, in response, must develop a counter strategy to prevent this and give the responsibility back to the student.”  Aren’t all effective strategies doing this?  Even if I slowly approach a student’s desk, do a pause, ignore, look, (low-key responses, p 189), that is in effect putting the ball back in the student’s court.  The onus is now on him/her to choose to escalate the situation or choose to stop the undesired behaviour.  I did like the reference to the grade one teacher, who on the 2^nd day of class used bump 3 option with an artful nuance. (p. 249).  Would it be perhaps beneficial to start with bump 3/4 in the beginning of the year and scale downwards as required because a standard has been set? Might that be the more effective route, establishing an atmosphere of authority that can be softened appropriately as the school year passes or should the teacher scale upwards as behaviour challenges escalate, which is draining and more demanding?  Would my suggestion build a classroom of fear, or would it be a safe place because unwanted behaviour (even minor) is quashed with a higher level than perhaps needed.  Or is this counter-productive? 

I found the removal of the child to a quiet place that has little to no stimulation interesting.  I feel this is akin to ostracism, which can be very powerful, even in the animal world.  The following is a case scenario from, “The Man Who Listens to Horses,” by Monty Roberts, where ostracism is used as a correction technique.  The author writes of a lead mare in a group of wild mustangs which he has been observing.  A young colt is being a bully.  He is knocking over smaller foals and biting grazing mares, which disrupts the herd’s harmony.  The lead mare forces the colt to the outside edge of the herd.  This is extremely dangerous for a flight animal.  The colt is now alone and doesn’t have the herd’s protection.  The colt becomes increasingly anxious and keeps trying to re-enter the group only to be pushed away again.  Once the colt submissively acknowledges the lead mare, does she allow him back in.  She also responds to him by grooming him, which is an extremely important social activity for horses. The mare repeats the entire process until the colt ultimately stops the unwanted behaviour.  Does ostracizing (removal) a bullying child stop that child’s behaviour?  Not without implementing a feedback loop, which the mare did.  A bullying child can be simply removed from the situation, suspended or even expelled.  That child, however, needs to internalize reasons to want to come back into his society and act accordingly.