Still looking for alternatives to time out? If you’re a teacher, childcare worker, or anyone who works with kids you may be frustrated that for some children time out just doesn’t work. In fact, for some kids time out may actually be a reward because of the popularity it provides for them from other kids. If you’re worried that time out is not helping, and that the child is headed down a road of developing a personal identity that includes "rebel" or "troublemaker" and the end of that road can only be jail, then you need to listen to Dr. Ross Green talk about Collaborative Problem Solving. We need to treat children differently today and this approach holds a lot of insights into that new approach.
Resources for this Episode
Zero Tolerance Policies: in this interview, Dr. Green and I briefly discuss our doubts about the effectiveness of zero tolerance policies in schools. A recent publication in the journal American Psychologist confirms these doubts. From the abstract of “Are zero tolerance policies effective in the schools?: An evidentiary review and recommendations” by the American Psychological Association Zero Tolerance Task Force (December 2008, Volume 63):
…zero tolerance policies may negatively affect the relationship of education with juvenile justice and appear to conflict to some degree with current best knowledge concerning adolescent development. To address the needs of schools for discipline that can maintain school safety while maximizing student opportunity to learn, the report offers recommendations for both reforming zero tolerance where its implementation is necessary and for alternative practice to replace zero tolerance where a more appropriate approach is indicated.
