In working with students with ADHD, how would you define punishment?

Question

And, why is it a dangerous and controversial, but common approach to dealing with agression? I am a first year teacher (blah, blah, blah) who tends to want to punish my students at the drop of a hat when aggression is shown. This is even when I know several of my students will punch my mouth loose, throw chairs, etc. Please help me deal with these students agression as I do not want to send them over the "edge."

Answer 1

You have a tough assignment for your  first year. I would talk to previous teachers to find out what worked for them. I would talk to parents to see what works for them. I would talk to the principal to get his/her input. I think a lot of people when faced with agression tend to be aggressive. It takes patience to calm down and access the situation. Traditional punishments don't work with kids with ADHD. My brother has ADHD and as a child well he drove everyone crazy. (He wasn't diagnosed until he was in high school). My mom would try the things that worked with the rest of us, and she got a haha kind of attitude. She had to learn what to do and what not to do. Have you tried having an aide take the student for a short walk when misbehaving? That works for one child with ADHD at our school. He goes for a short walk and is told when he can behave he can go back. I think it helps him to get out of the room. One child has a spot in the back of the class where he goes until he can come back and concentrate. My friend has 4 children with ADHD and doesn't want them on medication, but they have major problems at school. Someone suggested that she give them a Pepsi (any caffinated drink works). It calms them down instead of stimulating them like it would for other children. I would communicate with all who work with the child. Find out what would/does work and go from there.

Answer 2

Does the school have the policy 'bout that? your in the field of that and dont have any idea in dealing certain things you should not try to punish them cause they already have it.. having an ADHD is a great punishment to them or more than that... (sigh..)

Answer 3

Okay I am a parent of a child with ADHD and when they get aggressive traditional punishment is out in left field with these childern as far as most being wrongly diagnosed that is a crock so first of all you need to know from the parents the meds they are on and second you should know that and this is one area most parents are uneducated you make sure the child doesnot get any of the trigger foods this is were parents fail they think their child is on meds it is okay to give them forms of sugar including choc.. and also caffine which is a nono. Here comes the hard part and it sounds stupid but it ain't get your bluff in on the child let them know for every action there is a reaction do not show any fear if you do they got you make sure you keep the parents involved in every aspect and make sure that on goods you tell them how proud you are you may even work out some kind of award system if it is just a certificate that says they had a good day when they have a bad day and this is what they did for my son a bad behaivor certificate was sent home if you are in the lower grades where they have recess so many bad certifactes result in lose of recess and remember they can smell fear

Answer 4

That is a touchy subject.  Back in my day, the paddle did wonders.  Schools need to bring the paddle out of retirement.

Answer 5

The technical definition of punishment is any consequences that when applied to a behavior results in the likelihood that the punished behavior will decrease in the future. The overall definition of punishment is safe because you want the problem behavior to decrease. The problem is that misbehavior always serves a communicative function. That is the children are trying to tell you something by acting out, and applying consequences only will only result in a short term reduction of the problem and not a long term effect. If you have children in your classroom who are aggressive I would request a behavior specialist or school psychologist who can help you design positive behavior support plans. The goal of the behavior plan is to uncover what the function of the behavior is and how to teach the children to communicate in more effective appropriate ways. In addition if these students are special education students they should have IEP goals that specifically address these behavior problems. You can call an IEP team together to help develop these plans and goals.

Answer 6

Punishment is an out dated concept in this situation..

Answer 7

You can treat students behaviorally... When someone says that it is not "behavioral" they have no idea what they are talking about... Everything is behavioral.

Ultimately, when looking to change behavior, you have to find the function or cause of their behavior. Once you do that, you can apply behavioral intervention (reinforcement or punishment). But, because you are dealing with a classroom full of behaviors, it is more difficult to individually diagnose the function of all of their behaviors.

So, you need to implement a structured classroom behavior plan. Set up your rules... Make sure that they know if they follow the rules, they are being rewarded, and if they are not, that the consequences you set forth will be implemented. Try this first, and implement it for about 2-3 weeks consistently... what this does is gives you a baseline (under these circumstances, we see these behaviors). Then, if it is still unsuccessful, you will need the help of a behavior analyst/specialist to help develop appropriate behaivor plans.

For example, aggression would be maintained by one of the following functions (tangible items, social attention, escape from task, or automatic/sensory)... You would need to take data with help from your behavior specialist and have them first determine why they are engaging in aggression. Then, based on the function, you apply appropriate treatment using either reinforcement or punishment.

Reinforcement increases behavior... so you would probably choose an alternate behavior and reinforce that. Reinforce does not simply mean to give a piece of candy or sticker... you need to make it funciton based.

Punishment decreases behavior. If you send them to the principal or call parents and that decreases behavior, then it is a punishment... IF it doesn't, then it can't be called punishment.

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Comment on euphemism for punishment*******

The person who said they don't like to use the term punishment does not know what they are talking about. Consequence is not synonomous for punishment, because reinforcement is a consequence for behavior as well. Consequence is ANYTHING that occurs immediately after a behavior... Punishment just means that the behavior decreases after a stimulus is presented/removed, whereas reinforcement means that the behavior increases after a stimulus is presented/removed. Get the terminology right dbag...

Answer 8

I know you are asking what to do, but can you give more information what these students behavior is like...I'm from the old school and have no idea what you have to deal with. How you take care of problems of a normal student can't be used in your class? I'm just asking....what would they do if they had to sit in a corner like the old days....thanks for more info I'm interested in learning about this problem so many people have these days.

Thank you for all you do for the students....it must be very draining by the end of the day or even by lunchtime.

Sincerely,

Mama Jazzy Geri

Answer 9

Get their parents involved and make sure they are medicated if  they need it.

Answer 10

I find it ironic that you state you have several students that would punch you.  How is your behavior towards them?  As for ADHD, my children both have it.  The teachers have been instructed to contact us (parents) at the first sign of misbehaving, disruption, etc.  My kids teachers are aware before school starts my expectation from them in how to deal with my children and what they need to if it gets no results.  They usually get results.

Answer 11

Don't like the word punishment so lets use consequences.

The only one who would be going over the edge would be you.  You need more training with children with ADHD.  Or maybe you are not the teacher who should be involved with these children.

The more aggression you display, the more aggression they will show you.  Thus, everything gets totally out of control.  The children just took the control away from you.

You're going to have to take a look at yourself.  Who is the one with the aggression?  Just because children have ADHD doesn't mean they are full of aggressive behavior.  You're getting the situations totally turned around.  

ADHD children are really no different then any of the other child.  They need to be taught differently and they learn differently.  Hyper isn't the same as aggressive.  Hyper is when a kid can't sit still in there assigned seat or are more fidgety.  They have a tendency to have more energy then they know what to do with.  They always have to be moving, moving, moving.

There's no question,  like any other child, ADHD children need consequences for their actions.  Consequences like a time out away from the other kids.  They may need a quite place in order to calm down.  These children will stress easily with change.  

Classroom work or different subjects need to be done at the same time everyday.  Things need to be orderly and supplies put back in the same places, which they need to be responsible for.  The smoother the classroom schedule is run the smoother the children will be.  They need a calming atmosphere, which we all could use from time to time.  They need it more.  

If you're not ready for the "special education" these children need,  I highly suggest  seeing a counselor yourself.   At least get more educated about ADHD.

Don't understand dangerous and controversial.  Remember we don't use punishment, it's consequences for one's actions.

Even adults without ADHD have consequences.  There's no more I can say on the subject.  It gets involved and is hard to understand at first.  

You need to learn to "cool your heals" because that just makes everything worse.  Get into a different aspect of teaching.  If you have any anger problems, now is the time to deal with those issues before trying to deal with teaching any children.

Answer 12

Why is there no I.E.P. or 501 in this situation?  If they're truly ADHD to this point, they need to be getting help.

Answer 13

Many students with ADHD, for one, are misdiagnosed so the root of their problem may be something that is not behaviorally based, which means you will never teach them anything by punishing them, except to hate you.

You also need to remember that when dealing with ADHD students, often times their disability punishes them enough. It is hard to be expected to sit still and focus, etc not to mention getting busted for doing the wrong things in the classroom. Try to make some allowances if you can, for letting the children have fidget toys, etc. Fidget toys are something that they can hold and play with while they listen. Sometimes it channels all that energy into a single stimulation, so the rest of the body and brain can focus on you. Remember that eye contact is a social reinforcer and we think of it as a sign of respect but it isn't necessary for learning. There is no reason why a student should have to look at you in order to pay attention. In fact, looking at you may actually be a visual distraction from the things that you are saying.

You also need to build in certain times for active play, where the kids can move around. This includes transition times. You can't just ask a kid who is running around to sit down right then and there and pay attention. You can go from running around to walking only, to sitting down but facing however they want, to sitting around and facing the front, to all this plus being quiet so you can teach.

You also need to catch your students being good. I firmly believe that children are naturally fond of pleasing adults. They will do the right thing if they know what you expect, and if you are consistent, and if you recognize that they are doing well. So maybe out of the blue every few minutes throw out a compliment to the whole class. "Hey, way to go Billy, you are sitting quietly in your seat!" "Everyone give Johnny a cheer, he is being so helpful!" (This gives permission for a little noise which might come out as an outburst later, too) You can extend this to small rewards every couple days. "Hey Joey, headsup! This is for your excellent behavior today." (and toss a tiny toy, a sticker, or a little snack) You can also do a weekly contest for best effort per week. This might be a Friday afternoon award ceremony with all kinds of formality, so that the kid knows it is special. Maybe the reward is a movie pass, an iTune download, or a coupon for an ice cream, or something like that.

You should know, I'm sure that there are different learning styles, it isn't all about you talking and them listening. You can do hands on projects with them, and have discussions to get them interested in your lessons. Both of these allow for their energy to come out in productive ways.

OK so you make these allowances and you still have problems, you have to have boundaries. How to set them?

Be clear. Address the action, not the child, in a specific way. Lay down your expectations, and let them know the consequences of meeting them, and not meeting them. You should role model what you want in your students.

Let the punishment fit the crime and know a power struggle when you see one. It isn't always the worst thing for a child to get what they want, it doesn't mean you lost, it means they win. It shows that you are listening to what THEY say they need. Of course this can't be everytime for every child. But you can ask for respect more easily when you are giving it.