Child Abuse in School —STOPPING STUDENT MISBEHAVIOUR THROUGH

1. Developing a comprehensive classroom discipline plan—Teachers ought to develop a comprehensive discipline plan for every misbehaviour. The students must be part of the plan and must be encouraged to be part of the rule formulation and what to do to violators.

2. Halting misbehaviour when it occurs without attacking the dignity of the student. Teachers should learn to deal with issues and not persons.

3. Resolving student problem with students who chronically disrupt the learning process- Teachers should give opportunity to students to deal with their colleagues who constantly disrupt learning process.

4. Reducing student stress as well as the teacher’s stress- overloading teachers with many classes and many students affect their temperament and predispose them to abusive reactions when dealing with their students. Similarly overloading the students with heavy assignment will create tension and misbehaviour.

5. Special guidelines for rules that work- Not all rules will work, therefore teachers should create guidelines for rules that work and encourage compliance.

6. Developing student and teachers protection policy- Ethical code of conduct and students/teachers protection policy.

DISCIPLINE PROBLEM IN SCHOOLS

1. Growing rate of indiscipline among students

2. Out of control students

3. Out of control teachers

4. Out of control parents

5. The decline of traditional discipline strategies

6. Insecurity of teachers under child rights law

7. Absence of trained school social workers and counsellors needed for intervention

CAUSES OF DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS

a) VIOLENCE IN THE SOCIETY Rising challenges of crime, solving problems through shouting, fist fights, extortion, threat of injury etc. Children are now constantly exposed to violence and have become insensitive and indifferent to it.

b) EFFECTS OF THE MEDIA The negative effects of the print, broadcast and social network media has become so damaging, about 80% of media information now is centred on violence and immorality. Children now glamourize and glorify anti-authority protagonists as they behave irresponsibly. There are more of fantasy triggering programs than reality building ones on our television stations

c) PROBLEMS OF DEPRESSED ECONOMY Domestic violence, Divorce, single parenthood, unemployment and all take away parental attention and breed more out of control children.

d) DIFFICULT TEMPERAMENT We now have more children with plastic temperament who want to retain their bad behaviour no matter what anyone does.

OTHER CAUSES OF DISCIPLINE PROBLEM IN SCHOOLS

A. STUDENT BOREDOM
As teachers are desirous of downloading all they have prepared for students. Some students respond positively and manage their boredom, but some students display their boredom and disinterest in a way that upset the teachers leading to a conflict situation.

B. POWERLESSNESS
Many times policies are made by the school authority, the local school board and many more without participation or involvement of the students and when those laws are imposed on them because they seem powerless. They will prove the system wrong by show casing their power of disobedience too.

C. UNCLEAR LIMIT–
Absence of written rules and regulations clearly stating standard of average behaviour before they are violated and what happened when they are violated sometimes lead to serious crisis. Take for instance my school principal in those days gave us a standing instruction not to fight or eat on the road after school without removing the school uniform first in order to protect the image of the School. And we recognized that limit without breaking it. When limits are not clear the students will break the test the system will various options available to them.

LACK OF ACCEPTABLE OUTLETS FOR EXPRESSING FEELINGS.
Absence of acceptable options for expressing feelings – don’t fight, don’t run , don’t eat , don’t drop etc. what are those things to do instead –not clear. Don’t drop papers here and there is no dustbin. Teachers create no alternative to instructions putting students in dilemma.

THREE DIMENSIONAL DISCIPLINE

i. Preventive:- What can be done to prevent misbehaviour amongst the students? A strategic planning to minimize misbehaviour must be developed.

ii Action:- What action to take when it occurs? Now
that it has happened how we deal with it without damaging?

iii Resolution – How do we avoid reoccurrence? What policy can we come up with to safeguard the institution and other students?. How do we handle out of control (OOC) Students? Acknowledging that problem may occur and devising ways to mitigate it by providing many behavioural, interpersonal and anxiety management skills that will reduce the impact of misbehaving students upon teaching – learning process.

12 foundations of effective discipline

1. Let the students know what you need.

2. Provide instructions that match the student’s ability.

3. Listen to what the students are thinking as well as their feelings. Some students came to the class but the situation at home was bad and can’t concentrate in the class.

4. Use humour- Frowning and cheerlessness affect student attention and generate fears.

5. Vary your style with presentation. Always change your style to arrest your student attention.

6. Offer choices – Extreme rigidity don’t help e,g you can do your assignment now or during recess . You can fight if you want but be prepared for suspension

7. Refuse to accept excuses – Once a race is set, encourage obedience and refuse mind playing excuses

8. Accept or legitimize behaviour you cannot stop/ think of a creative way to stop misbehaviour by accepting it e,g I taught in a school where the students make a lot of noise in vernacular language and they were not responding well to caution, so I told them they can now make noise as much as they wanted but only in English and French languages and never again in their native language. And the class became silent.

9. Show personal care and concern, check moods and communicate attentively with the student

10. Be self- disciplined. You can’t sell what you don’t have. Your dressing, your composure, your habit in the class speak volume to the students.

11. Realize you have a limit. You can never totally meet the need of every student. Some won’t just respond, not for anything. So just accept the result once you have done your best.

12. Let go of bad memories of yesterday, live today – act today and be yourself. Develop self -confidence and don’t be toxic to any child in any way.

13. Carry your students along in decision making. Student Participation in policies developed for them will minimize violation.
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