Proiect Focuses On Junior High Pupils' Behavior Problems

Charlie B. is a blond, goodlooking, 13-year-old boy who, a couple of months ago, was in considerable trouble at one oL Ann Arbor's junior high schools. Charlie (that's not his real name) had never been the world's greatest student, but until September when he entered the eighth grade, Charlie had never had any serious difficulties in school. But last fall everything seemed to go wrong for Charlie and in mid-November the school authorities informed his parents that if there weren't a marked improvement in his behavior, Charlie might well be suspended. Too often in the past, this k kind of story has had a tragic I ending. But this time, me uuuusciui at his school recommended to the B's that they particípate in a program run by the Family and School Consultation Project in Ann Arbor. The project, located at 209 S Fourth Ave. in Ann Arbor, was formed in May of 1969 lunder the direction of Prof. Richard B. Stuart of the University's School of Social [Work. Supported by federal fuds channeled through the State of Michigan's Department of Mental Health and administered through the Washtenaw County Community Mental Health Center, the project was designed t o evalúate hew psychological techniques for helping solve the many behavioral problems that bedevil young people these days. During the first year of its existence, project personnel worked primarily with juvenile delinquents whose difficulties were so severe that the youngsters were typically on the verge of hospitalization in a mental institution of some kind. Beginning in September of 1970, however, Dr. Stuart and his associates - Tony odi, Mike Lott, Bosemane Welter and Jan Onder - decided to focus the project's attention on junior high students on the verge of being suspended or expelled and also, possibly, on the verge of encountering real trouble with the law. IL the project associates could keep the potential delinquent working productively in school, they could almost always work out the other j difficulties the young person was encountering. What does the Family and School Consultation Project do for these students? Let's look at Charlie B's case: Charlie comes from a middleclass Ann Arbor family. Both his mother and his father work. They are both very fond of Charlie, but 1 a t e 1 y they haven't been able to communie ate with him very.well. When the caseworker from the project talked with them, they complained that Charlie seemed to have lost respect for them, that he was no longer considérate of their feelings. More and more he bothered them by violating the curfew hours they had imposed, by letting his hair grow longer than they thought it ought to, by taking up with other kids his age of whom they didn't approve. They were even beginning to worry about whether he might be experimenting with drugs. Until recently Charlie had been an average or slightly above-average student i n ■ ■■ ■ !.■■ ' m had slipped drastically and _ his parents were getting I reports from the school I authorities that he was I t i n g classes and causing I trouble. I T h e y had had several I long "talks" with CHarlie, I they tried punishing him by I taking away various I leges, but nothing seemed to I do much good. In fact, his I behavior was getting worse I and worse and the parents I really didn't know what to do I about it. The school authorities I reported that Charlie was I interested in most of his I jects, that he did not I pate in classroom activities, I that he cut classes and spent the time either wandering through the halls or hiding out in a wooded area close to the school. Occasionally he would disrupt' the classes he did attend by acting up, I shouting, or talking back to the teacher. ■ He had been called down to see the assistant principal several times, and had had a couple of long discussions with his counselor, but even the threat of suspension didn't seem to affect him. At this point, the counselor ripridp.d to recommend to (over please) PROJECT FOCUSES ON JUNIOR HIGH PUPILS BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS (continued) Survey Information Asked The Family and School Consultation Proj2) Do you expect your teen to keep you eet works with a large number of junior high informed of his whereabouts? students, and questions always come up about 1) Always; (2) often; (3) sometimes; (4) what expectations average parents have. never. Project staff is requesting our readers' help 3) How much spending money do you in putting together a description of expectagive your teen each week? tions which parents have for their sons and 4) How much of your teen's spending daughters of different ages. money must be earned through chores? Below are questions to which they would 1) All; (2) most; (3) half; (4) some; (5) appreciate answers either by telephoning the none. answers to 662-5671 or by sending them to 5) (a) Do you you try to influence your Family and School Consultation Project, 209 teen's choice of friends and activities? S. Fourth Ave., Ann Arbor 48108. The results 1) Always; (2) often; (3) sometimes; (4) of this survey will be published within a few never. weeks. b) How successful have you been? 1) What time do you expect (permit) your 1) Always; (2) often; (3) sometimes; (4) teen to return home? never. a) Weekday evenings; (b) weekend even6) (a) Is your teen a boy or a girl? ings? b) How old is he(she)? Charlie's parents that they look into the Family and School Consultation Project. As soon as Charlie's parents agreed to particípate in the program, one of the program's caseworkers called them and arranged for an interview. During this interview, Charlie and his parents filled out several questionnaires (designed to help the project personnel evalúate the situation). Th en the caseworker helped Charlie and his parents draw up a "behavioral contract" that specified, in writing, exactly what Charlie could expect f rom his parents, and what the parents could expect of Charlie. Dr. Stuart points out that the behavioral contract is a relatively new device that is used often in the project's developing program. Behavioral psychologists believe that problems such as Charlie's typically result from a breakdown in effective communication between the child and his parents, and between the child and the school authorities. When this disruption in communication occurs, all parties concerned begin to lose mutual respect and consideration for each other, and until communication is reestablished, the situation merely gets worse and worse. The behavioral contract is designed to bring all parties back into good rapport with each other. What is a good contract like? According to project staff members, it should contain specific information concerning the young person's privileges, his responsibilities, the penalties he will incur for unacceptable behavjor_and the bonuses he will earn for outstandingly good behavior. In all cases, the privileges that a boy like Charlie gets must be earned - that is, his rewards are made contingent upon his meeting his resporb sibilities. In Charlie's case, it soon became clear to the caseworker that the young man had no real reason for performing well in school. He got his allowance, his clothes, his food, his home, his free time, and even transportation, no matter what he did in school. His parents would fuss at him if he did badly, and they would often threaten to cut off his privileges, but they seldom followed through with their threats, for Charlie had learned how to sweet-talk them out, of most punishments. More important than this, Dr. Stuart said; "Charlie's parents never bothered to praise him when he did perform well. In the long run, it is far more important for parents to r e w a r d good behavior consistently than it is for them to punish bad behavior. Many parents - and many teachers - ignore the really great things that children do. It is very difficult to get a child to work productively in school, or to be a contributing and happy member of a family, if the parents overlook the positive contributions a young person makes, but harp continually on all the mistakes the child makes or all the things he does that they don't like." When parents or teachers fail to communicate to a child that they recognize and approve of the good things he does, the child soon learns that there simply is no payoff for good behiavior, jeet staff members comment. The only thing the child can do to attract his parents' attention is to misbehave, so that's exactly what many children do, they add. The behavioral contract is one technique used by the project to reverse this situation by making sure that good behavior is rewarded regularly and consistently, while misbehavior is punished automatically without there being any great need to cali too much attention to it. In Charlie's case, the contract between him and his parents was worked out this way: Charlie f i r s t listed the rewards that he wanted - being able to come and go as he please during agreed-upon hours, being able to stay out later at night on weekends than during the week, -and receiving enough money to buy the records and other things that made life pleasant for him. The parents then specified what they wanted from Charlie - that he attend all his classes, that he do his homework and earn passing grades, and they he obey what they all agreed was a resaonable set of curfew hours. Charlie's behavioral contract simply tied his privileges to his responsibilities. If Charlie attended all his classes, did his homework and made passing grades, he was allowed freedom to come and go as he pleased (within set hours) without having to ask permission each time he wanted to leave the house. He also got $3 a week allowance. If he cut one class, if he ' failed to do his homework one day, or if he didn't earn a passing grade in aU his classes for a given day, he was "grounded" the next day and lost 50 cents from his allowance. If he was late 15 minutes coming home one night, he had to be in 30 minutes early the next night. If he met the curfew regulations Monday through Thursday, he got to stay out later Friday and Saturday nights. And, as an extra feature, if Charlie met all of his responsibilities for two weeks straight, he receive a "bous" of $1 extra above the $3 a week that he earned. Does the contract "bribe" Charlie for good behavior? No, says Dr. Stuart. Bribery always involves getting something illegally or immorrally. In the past, Charlie's parents had been giving him something (i.e., his free time, his allowance) for nothing. It isn't bribery when a child must earn his privileges, as Charlie must now work to get what he wants, Dr. Stuart argües. ín fact, he says, there is no more effective way of teaching a ehild how to handle adult responsibility than by means of this kind of cont r a c t . For when Charlie grows up and takes a job somewhere, his employer will refuse to give Charlie "something for nothing." And how has the contract affected Charlie and his parents? It's too soon to tell, for the contract has only been in effect for about a month. Charlie did miss a couple of classes during the first week of the contrct and he did come home a few minutes after curfew one night, but he accepted his penalties without complaining. Since then, his performance has been excellent and he is well along towards earning his second $1 bonus. His teachers report he is doing much better in school and is no longer disruptive. His parents are very pleased at the dramatic change in his behavior, just as Charlie is pleased at the change in his parents' behavior. For now they remember to praise him for his accomplishments and to compliment him sincerely whenever he does well. Both Charlie and his parents feel that they have much warmer and effect i v e Communications now than they did, and they all report that they have become more considérate of each other's feelings. ,