(2015-07-31) Greene Disciplining Kids Vs Solving Problems

Everything you think you know about disciplining kids is wrong

A first-grader whose unruly behavior goes uncorrected can become the fifth-grader with multiple suspensions, the eighth-grader who self-medicates, the high school dropout, and the 17-year-old convict

How we deal with the most challenging kids remains rooted in B.F. Skinner’s mid-20th-century philosophy that human behavior is determined by consequences and bad behavior must be punished.

teachers who aim to control students’ behavior—rather than helping them control it themselves—undermine the very elements that are essential for motivation: autonomy, a sense of competence, and a capacity to relate to others. This, in turn, means they have a harder time learning Self-control

Psychologist Ross Greene, who has taught at Harvard and Virginia Tech, has developed a near cult following among parents and educators who deal with challenging children

His model was honed in children’s psychiatric clinics and battle-tested in state juvenile facilities, and in 2006 it formally made its way into a smattering of public and private schools. The results thus far have been dramatic, with schools reporting drops as great as 80 percent in disciplinary referrals, suspensions, and incidents of peer aggression.

focusing on problem solving instead of punishment is now seen as key to successful discipline.

The teachers and the student would come up with a plan to slowly get him more involved

Now we’re talking to the child and really believing the child when they say what the problems are.

research suggested that the prefrontal cortexes of aggressive children actually hadn’t developed, or were developing more slowly, so that they simply did not yet have brains capable of helping them regulate their behavior

He began coaching parents to focus on building up their children’s problem-solving skills. It seemed to work.

Kids began to see the staff as their allies, and the staff no longer felt like their adversaries.