The reality is that rules and consequences as a discipline plan have yielded disappointing results. I conducted an informal Internet survey of teachers in my state. I asked them how often instruction was interrupted because they had to stop and address student misconduct. Teachers were asked to respond by selecting daily, weekly, monthly, or rarely. Five hundred and forty (540) teachers responded. Over four hundred and eighty (480) teachers, or 90 percent, responded “daily.” The remaining fifty-four teachers said “weekly” or “monthly.” My second question was, “Do you have rules and consequences posted in your classroom?” Five hundred and thirty-five responded “Yes.” This survey suggests addressing discipline issues requires much of teachers’ time and attention.
I have concluded that there must be more to discipline than rules and consequences. Students must feel like they belong, have bonds with others, are accepted, reassured, appreciated, and valued to reduce the frequency of misconduct.
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