WELCOME students to the Open School for the third and final term. I also wish to welcome students to another lesson in the Open School on Preventing Behaviour Problems: What Works. The school is open to parents, guardians, teachers, students and members of the public. This is the twelfth in a series of lessons which is done in the Open school every two weeks. It is my hope that students will acquire knowledge and skills which will enable them to gain a better understanding of preventing those problems.
At the end of the lesson, students will be able to (a) explain, in a simple sentence, two behaviour problems; (b) students will be able to list two ways of preventing behaviour problems in the local community.
A large number of behaviour problems pervade our St. Lucian society today. The behaviour problems have become so problematic that the government now has to turn to the Regional Security Forces (RSS) to assist in reducing acts of aggression and violence in our society. Many of the problems which are being experienced, are initiated by young people at home, in school and in our wider community.
Many of the problems involving young people are delinquency, violence and crime, drug and alcohol abuse, smoking and sexual behaviour that risk the development of serious illnesses. And these problems become costly to the health care system and the government in particular which provides the funding for health care and maintains the judicial system.
Efforts at preventing behaviour problems should begin with prenatal care and continue throughout the school years. Prenatal care is also known as antenatal care. Prenatal health care is a type of preventative health care that occurs, exists or performed before birth. Usually, the pregnant mother will receive medicals check-ups, consisting of recommendations on managing a healthy lifestyle, from a medical health care provider.
Research has shown that many health care programmes have had remarkable effects in preventing the development of problem behaviours in adolescence. Adolescence is described by the Centre of Disease Control of the United States of America as the period between 10 and 24 years old.
Very simply, preventing behaviour problems begin in the womb and ends in the tomb. We are to constantly be preventing behaviour problems which would have severe negative effects in our families, in our homes, in our schools and in our society.
Health Care providers work hard at improving the mother’s physical and psychological health and educational development in order to bring forth a healthy child who will demonstrate fewer behaviour problems in the society. In other words, early interventions should address prenatal care and social and economic adjustments of mothers after a child is born.
As an educator myself, I am aware that one of the best established principles of learning is that appropriate, immediate positive consequences can make positive behaviour more frequent. Positive consequences for positive social as well as economic accomplishments, particularly with children and youth who misbehave frequently.
Consequences can come in many forms; Positive attention, praise, privileges, access to desirable activities, prizes and, yes, money all act as positive consequences. Giving your child a little pocket money sometimes can go a long way in bringing about positive consequences. Children showing problem behaviour may need more frequent, immediate and noteworthy positive consequences to improve their behaviour than children with fewer problems.
I have been emphasizing mostly positive consequences in my article thus far. But clear, immediate, and mild negative consequences can reduce problem behaviours. Parents should establish and communicate house rules for their children. Indeed, the children themselves could participate in making those rules. They would be very excited about their involvement in the process.
Classroom teachers too, should provide brief, immediate, mild and consistent consequences for problem behaviour. For example, in formulating the rules, consequences for breaking those rules that they have identified, could also be drawn up. Those could include, short, private reprimands and label the problem clearly; brief loss of privileges or brief isolation from an activity that the child enjoys.
It is very important to note that parents and teachers should establish and enjoy a good parent and teacher positive relationship.
Indeed, parents and teachers should create opportunities for children to observe and practice interpersonal as well as academic skills. This could be done by helping or training them to handle conflicts in a non-violent way and cooperating with others.
Parents and teachers should use continuous training as a ‘weapon’ of choice. They should train children to use skills that are likely to be effective in real-life situations. Whenever possible, make sure that they receive positive consequences for using their skills
It should be understood, that children who have problems getting along with others are likely to have more difficulties than others with learning and mastering important interpersonal skills. Some examples of interpersonal skills are: Team work, cooperating with others, showing respect, active listening, understanding the feelings of others. Indeed, there are several others.
This topic is so important to our St. Lucian people, that the topic will be continued in our next Open School lesson.
Now two questions for you: (1) Explain in your own words two behaviour problems. (2) List two ways of preventing behaviour problems.