 silent lunch table, no water bottles, etc.
This resulted in great anxiety for my daughter as she feared making a mistake and causing the class to lose points and incurring the anger and disgust of her classmates. She also felt unjustly punished when she followed all the rules, but lost recess anyway because other students had made mistakes themselves. It was a no win situation for her and caused the classroom to feel like a war-zone — kids vs kids — kids vs teacher. The entire year was chaotic for her with entirely too much time and effort spent on tallying points, worrying about points, being mad at someone or having someone being mad at her!
 It was a matter of survival. Her teacher believed my daughter was “too sensitive” and that we “babied” her at home. She said my daughter needed to get used to the competition of the real world and that she needed to toughen up and develop thicker skin.
If adults were subjected to this kind of group behavior plan in the workplace, there would be mass walk-outs and outrage. Yet, somehow, many classrooms institute group behavior plans every day without once considering how it must feel to the children.
I completely agree with this, but can everyone suggest alternatives to help with behaviour? Thanks!
Last year, my grandson’s first grade teacher would use an individual, daily, behaviour chart that only the teahcer, my grandson and myself saw. It was a short chart just targeting a few behaviours that are especially challenging for him. She would put a star next to the one(s) he mastered that day and leave blank the ones that he did not. At the bottom she would write any comments or specific details regarding incidents. My grandson and I would sign it for him to return the next day. Although this is not perfect, it kept me informed and it was not something the whole class saw. I could address the behaviour with him at home and call the teacher for more detail if necessary.
I teach in a children’s inpatient psychiatric unit where too many students that come to me are subjected to behaviour charts and token economies. School for too many of my student is a coercive place where they actively choose to manipulate or be manipulated. These systems are at best unhelpful and at worst harmful towards our long term goals for our children.
It is true that through carrot and stick tracking systems we can gain short-term compliance, but like you so aptly put it, this obedience comes at an alarming cost.
I see it this way: The children who are the hardest to like and educate are the ones who need our relationship the most. Rewards and punishments rupture relationships; therefore, we can least afford to use rewards and punishments on the children who often are prescribed them the most.
Thanks so much, Joe. There is definitely a theme here that the kids who MOST need to feel connected and successful at school are the ones who are most likely to be subjected to these kinds of systems. The kids who are the hardest to love are the ones most in need of love. Behaviour charts do not communicate love.
What a fresh, critical thinking review of such a common “wisdom”. Thank you for your reasoned and respectful view of children. As a therapist I see adult clients all the time who are still struggling with the aftereffects of childhood shame. Of course, behavioral management experiences are not something we tend to put alot of thought into when healing the shames experienced in childhood but I think this review speaks to a cultural approach to parenting and to children that needs to be rethought.
Kris, I think that for teachers, there is a piece too about managing children in GROUPS rather than as INDIVIDUALS. We make a plan that will help us “control the group” but we forget that the group is composed of individual children with individual needs… I’m just chewing on this now, but there is a link, I think… thoughts?
I love this post! Do you have any suggestions for helping students who are in a classroom using a chart like this, and it’s not likely to change anytime soon because it’s school-wide (possibly districy-wide) policy? I agree with your points and would love to help my daughters feel less stressed about the system, as well as continue to develop their internal motivation.
Jen, this is such a great question. Would you mind if I posted it as an “Ask Miss NIght” post, and asked for input from readers, too?
Thank you for making an absolutely brilliant point about human (adult or child) respect! As the parent of a highly sensitive child, I know too well the devastating effects behavior charts and public humiliation have on children. She developed a very real anxiety disorder and school phobia – to the point where medication and counseling was needed – in response to a school environment that promoted the use of writing the names of “bad” kids on the blackboard, making children sit alone at the naughty table in the lunchroom, making students write their mistakes in a class notebook where every transgression counted against them to attend the class party (those who were “good” were allowed to party in the classroom next door while those who had recorded too many “bad” behaviors where left out — but they could hear the fun going on next door!
Even worse were the academic superstar charts posted in the classrooms — all of the student names were listed on a chart and those who had memorized their math facts had a star beside their name. Those who did not, were left blank. Other charts showed the “best “(reads aloud the most words per minute) readers, those students who could write the fastest paragraph, and those students who always remembered their homework vs those who did not.
Everything was a competition and a comparison amongst students. Every single mistake or misbehavior was recorded for posterity and used as a record for punishment and taking away recess, parties and other fun activities.
My daughter learned to fear school and hate learning. Schools and classrooms so often forget the golden rule when it comes to children and their feelings. Thank you so much for making this important point.
Oh, Julie, your story breaks my heart. I wish more parents would share these stories publicly – more teachers need to hear the stories of the kids who end up “victims” of well-intentioned behaviour systems. I hope your daughter found a better fit in a school and classroom environment.
Thank you, Katie! I just saw that! What an amazing thing to wake up to. Am so humbled by the attention this post has received, from people I consider heroes in our field.
I am a high school teacher and didn’t even know what a behavioral chart was before reading your post. Nonetheless, it came at just the right time. Just today, I was searching for an app for my phone to help document student behaviors, successes, completed homework, etc, when I came across this app for the computer called Class Dojo. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing – that teachers would do this in such a public way. I didn’t articulate my thoughts very well – it was just a gut reaction, but reading your analogy has certainly reinforced and clarified my own thinking. Thank you.
I can still remember in middle school when the school moved to a merit/demerit system. We had to keep a piece of paper with us at all times and any infraction of the rules got us a demerit. Any positive action that was above and beyond got us merits.
I was an all A student. For me merits came as easy as showing up and acing my tests. On the other hand my father was going through a dangerous messy divorce.
One day I missed finishing all my homework. In front of the whole class I was given a demerit and the teacher even commented out loud how after months of this program I was the only student he had seen with no demerits. I was quite the laugh that day.
I don’t mind that I got called on the carpet for not completing my work. What did devast me was having it done so openly and mockingly (whether that teacher meant it that way or not).
I appreciate your teacher to student, quieter approach to encourage good behavior.
In 4th grade, my teacher had a chart for math progress. One day I got one too many mistakes. She took me to the 1st grade and in front of all of those students, told them that I was doing 1st grade work in math. It was humiliating. The year was 1969 or ’70. I ended up not doing math since that grade. I went to a free school where we had choices. I could do math, but would not do it. I got my M.ed in Elementary Ed. and Literacy Specialist. When I took the requisite math class, I got an A. I also taught math and did well. When I had my students for reading, I let them run around and get their energy out before we started work. One of my students was a step dancer and I watched her routines before we settled down. She ended up asking me for books at the end of the year. I applaud your approach. Everyone is different. I particularly like your last sentence. Not everyone can perform the same. In regards to the workplace, I was just thinking today that it is unfair that even though I do a lot of work, and show up for work when my co-workers are frequently absent, I get treated the same. I have to give myself the praise and satisfaction for the hard work that I do.
This has got to be one of the most inspiring stories I have read in awhile. I am going to print this and bring it to my grandchildren’s school principal. You definitely put this in an easy to understand format and I did FEEL everything in your story. My grandchildren struggle everyday with their behavior and