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vi 䉴 Preface
Organization
The sequence of chapters is arranged to help teachers make consistent, rational decisions
about discipline. Chapter 1 is an introduction to the effects as well as the sources of
discipline problems in the schools. Chapter 2 provides a model for determining a personal
discipline approach. In Chapters 3–10, various discipline models are described in terms
of basic principles and procedures. The models selected cover a wide spectrum of possible
approaches.
In Chapters 11–12, the various models are considered for inclusion in a comprehensive
discipline program. Chapter 11 shows how to compare various discipline approaches with
one another and to select the one that most closely corresponds to one’s personal philosophy.
Chapter 12 provides an example to illustrate the development of a comprehensive, personal
approach to discipline that is consistent with specified criteria and is based on verifiable
assumptions.
The focus in Chapters 13–15 is on classroom management. Chapter 13 is designed to
help teachers deal with violence in their classrooms and the school. Procedures are out-
lined regarding how to resolve conflicts and handle aggressive, violent students. Chapter 14
demonstrates the importance of knowing about different cultures and how to success-
fully work with a diverse student population to improve relationships and learning. It also
provides information about gender correct teaching and how to help exceptional students
succeed academically. Chapter 15 shows teachers how to properly manage the various
aspects of the classroom—teacher-student relationships, time, the physical environment—
so that students will stay on task and maintain their interest in learning.
䉴 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank the following professors for their constructive comments and feed-
back regarding the fifth edition of this book: Linda Benson, Utah Valley State College; Julie
Bryant, Liberty University; Feyza Tantekin Erden, Middle East Technical University;
Kathleen Furlong, Maricopa Community College; Martha Jones, University of Kentucky;
David Lancaster, West Virginia University at Parkersburg; Michelle Lease, University of
Georgia; Judy Scholl, Austin Community College; Kristi Shepherd, University of Kentucky;
and Randall Spaid, Mercer University.
The following professors have reviewed the manuscript in the past and I want to thank
them as well: Sue R. Abegglen, Culver-Stockton College; Karen J. Agne, Plattsburgh State
University of New York; Kay Allen, University of Central Florida; Thomas Anderson,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Karen A. Bosch, Virginia Wesleyan College;
Sandra L. DiGiaimo, University of Scranton; George M. Rawlins, Austin Peay State
University; M. Kayt Sunwood, Iowa State University; and Dorothy Trusock, Arkansas State
University.
䉴
UNIT 1
Brief Contents
CHAPTER 9
PROBLEMS AND ISSUES IN Judicious Discipline: Forrest Gathercoal 234

DISCIPLINE 1
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 1 The Jones Model: Fredric H. Jones 259
Discipline Problems and Their Causes 3
UNIT 3
CHAPTER 2
CREATING A COMPREHENSIVE
Making Decisions About Discipline 22
DISCIPLINE PROGRAM 281
UNIT 2 CHAPTER 11
DISCIPLINE MODELS 45 Choosing a Discipline Approach 283

CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 12
Behavior Modification: B. F. Skinner 47 Creating a Personal Theory of Discipline 302
CHAPTER 4 UNIT 4
Assertive Discipline: Lee Canter 70
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 5
APPROACHES AND PROCEDURES 319
Logical Consequences: Rudolf Dreikurs 95 CHAPTER 13
Violence in the Schools 321
CHAPTER 6
Democratic Discipline in Learning Communities: CHAPTER 14
Clifford H. Edwards 124 Classroom Management and Student
Diversity 341
CHAPTER 7
Teacher Effectiveness Training: Thomas Gordon CHAPTER 15
174 Managing the Classroom 369
CHAPTER 8
Reality Therapy/Choice Theory: William Glasser
199
vii
䉴
Preface v
Contents
Adopting, Synthesizing, or Creating a

Model 36
UNIT 1 Considering Functions of a Comprehensive
Discipline Program 37
PROBLEMS AND ISSUES IN
Choosing a Discipline Orientation 37
DISCIPLINE 1
Making a Decision 40
CHAPTER 1 Consistency in the Classroom 40
Discipline Problems and Their Causes 3 Summary 41
Central Ideas 42
Introduction 3
Questions and Activities 42
Causes of Discipline Problems 4
References 43
The Role of the Home 5
The Role of Society 7 UNIT 2
The Role of the School 10
Historical Perspectives 15 DISCIPLINE MODELS 45
Summary 18 CHAPTER 3
Central Ideas 18 Behavior Modification: B. F. Skinner 47
References 19
Introduction 48
CHAPTER 2 Basic Principles of Behavior
Making Decisions About Discipline 22 Modification 50
Introduction 22 Correction Strategies 51
Educational Philosophies and Child Development Reinforcement 52
Theories 23 Extinction 53
Management Theories 23 Time-Out 54
Nondirective Intervention Theories 24 Punishment 55
Leadership Theories 24 Schedules of Reinforcement 56
Developing a Personal Theory of Discipline 24 Types of Reinforcers 57
Characteristics of Theories 27 Conditioned Reinforcers 58
Description 27 Edible Reinforcers 58
Explanation 27 Material Reinforcers 58
Prediction 28 Activity Reinforcers 59
Theoretical Basis 28 General and Backup Reinforcers 59
Comparing Four Approaches to Discipline 28 Token Economy 60
Behavior Modification 29 Antecedent Control Procedures 63
Assertive Discipline 29 The Question of Bribery and Adversives 63
Logical Consequences 29 Some Problems With Rewards 64
Reality Therapy/Choice Therapy 30 Preventing Discipline Problems 65
Deciding on a Personal Approach to Discipline Schoolwide Discipline 66
30 Strengths and Weaknesses of Behavior
Examining One’s Personal Philosophy 31 Modification 66
Establishing Criteria for Making Decisions 33 Strengths 66
Identifying and Validating Assumptions 34 Weaknesses 66
viii
Contents 䉳 ix
Summary 67 Preventing Discipline Problems 113

Central Ideas 67 Encouragement Versus Praise 113
Questions and Activities 68 Logical Consequences 114
References 68 Discussions in the Classroom 116
Preventive Discipline Suggestions 117
CHAPTER 4
Schoolwide Discipline 119
Assertive Discipline: Lee Canter 70 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Logical
Introduction 70 Consequences Model 120
Responses to Misbehavior 72 Strengths 120
The Nonassertive Style 72 Weaknesses 120
The Hostile Style 73 Summary 120
The Assertive Style 73 Central Ideas 121
Roadblocks to Becoming More Assertive 74 Questions and Activities 121
Applying Assertive Discipline 74 References 123
Step 1: Create Positive Student–Teacher
CHAPTER 6
Relationships 75
Step 2: Establish Rules or Expectations 75 Democratic Discipline in Learning Communities:
Step 3: Track Misbehavior 77 Clifford H. Edwards 124
Step 4: Use Negative Consequences to Enforce Introduction 125
Limits 80 The Need for Change 128
Step 5: Implement a System of Positive Nature of Democratic Discipline 130
Consequences 82 Attributes of Learning Communities 131
Step 6: Establish Strong Parent Support 83 Student Needs 134
Working with Difficult Students 85 Learning and Motivation 135
Some Problems With Punishment or Negative Autonomy and Student Empowerment 137
Consequences 87 Learning and Constructivism 139
Preventing Discipline Problems 90 Relationships in Learning Communities 141
Schoolwide Discipline 90 Promoting Learning Communities 142
Strengths and Weaknesses of Assertive Communication in Learning Communities 147
Discipline 91 Enhancing Caring Communities 151
Strengths 91 Learning Through Inquiry 153
Weaknesses 91 Student Assessment In Learning Communities
Summary 92 158
Central Ideas 92 Discipline in Learning Communities 159
Questions and Activities 92 Correcting Discipline Problems 160
References 93 Preventing Discipline Problems 165
Schools and Outside Communities 167
CHAPTER 5
Preventing Discipline Problems 167
Logical Consequences: Rudolf Dreikurs 95 Schoolwide Discipline 168
Introduction 95 Strengths and Weaknesses of Democratic Disci-
Motives for Behavior 98 pline in Learning Communities 168
Gaining Attention 98 Strengths 168
Exercising Power 101 Weaknesses 168
Exacting Revenge 102 Summary 169
Displaying Inadequacy 103 Central Ideas 169
Teaching Styles 104 Questions and Activities 170
Autocratic 104 References 171
Permissive 104
CHAPTER 7
Democratic 104
Helping Students Correct Their Misbehavior 105 Teacher Effectiveness Training: Thomas
Understanding Students’ Mistaken Goals 105 Gordon 174
Helping Students Change Their Mistaken Introduction 174
Goals 107 A Case for Teacher Effectiveness Training 176
x 䉴 Contents
Essentials of Teacher Effectiveness Training 180 CHAPTER 9

Problem Ownership 180 Judicious Discipline: Forrest Gathercoal 234
Identifying Student Needs 183 Introduction 234
Making a Trade 183 The Ethical Perspective 237
Modifying the Environment 183 The Legal Perspective 239
Active Listening 184 Student Rights 239
Sending Confronting I-Messages 188 The First Amendment 240
Shifting Gears to Reduce Resistance 190
The Fourth Amendment 240
Problem Solving 191
The Fourteenth Amendment 240
When Values Collide 192
Democratic Law and the Schools 243
Preventive Discipline 194
Rules and Consequences 244
The Preventive I-Message 194
Judicious Application of Rules and
Modifying the Classroom Environment 195
Consequences 248
Strengths and Weaknesses of Teacher
Judicious Discipline in the Classroom 251
Effectiveness Training 195
Class Meetings 254
Strengths 195
Weaknesses 196
Schoolwide Discipline 255
Summary 196
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Judicious
Central Ideas 196
Discipline Model 256
Strengths 256
References 198
Weaknesses 256
CHAPTER 8 Summary 256
Reality Therapy/Choice Theory: William Central Ideas 257
Glasser 199 Questions and Activities 257
References 258
Introduction 199
Reality Therapy 201 CHAPTER 10
Correcting Unacceptable Behaviors 201 The Jones Model: Fredric H. Jones 259
Choice Theory 206
Basic Human Needs 206 Introduction 259
Balancing Needs 209 Classroom Structures 260
Unfulfilled Needs and Misbehavior 210 Rules, Routines, and Standards 260
The Pictures in Our Heads 211 Seating Arrangements 262
Conflicts in Satisfying Needs for Control 212 Student–Teacher Relationships 263
Teaching Control Theory to Students 213 Classroom Control 264
The Quality School 216 Instructional Strategies 264
Boss-Management Versus Lead- Limit Setting 266
Management 216 Promoting Cooperation 274
The Quality School Program 219 Responsibility Training 274
The Connecting Place 223 Omission Training 276
Preventing Discipline Problems 226 Backup Systems 276
Schoolwide Discipline 228 Preventing Discipline Problems 278
Quality Communities and Quality Schools 229 Schoolwide Discipline 278
Strengths and Weaknesses of Reality Therapy/ Strengths and Weaknesses of the Jones
Choice Theory 229 Model 278
Strengths 229 Strengths 278
Weaknesses 230 Weaknesses 279
Summary 230 Summary 279
Central Ideas 231 Central Ideas 279
Questions and Activities 231 Questions and Activities 280
References 233 References 280
Contents 䉳 xi
UNIT 3 Managing Student Assaults and Hostage

Situations 329
CREATING A COMPREHENSIVE
Promoting Antibullying and Antigang
DISCIPLINE PROGRAM 281
Activity 331
CHAPTER 11 Resiliency Training 334
Choosing a Discipline Approach 283 Summary 335
Central Ideas 335
Introduction 283 Questions and Activities 336
Applying a Personal Discipline Philosophy References 337
283
Establishing Criteria 284 CHAPTER 14
Identifying and Validating Assumptions 287 Classroom Management and Student
Considering Options 290 Diversity 341
Synopsis of Discipline Models 291 Introduction 341
Behavior Modification 291 Cultural Diversity and Interpersonal
Assertive Discipline 292 Relationships 342
Logical Consequences 293 Social Class 345
Democratic Discipline 294 Ethnic Diversity 346
Teacher Effectiveness Training 295 Language and Communication Style 347
Reality Therapy/Choice Therapy 296 A Framework for Multicultural
Judicious Discipline 297 Education 350
The Jones Model 299 Curriculum and Instruction for Minority
Summary 300 Students 353
Central Ideas 300 Eliminating Gender Bias 354
Questions and Activities 300 Exceptionality 359
References 301 Religious Diversity and the Schools 362
Summary 364
CHAPTER 12 Central Ideas 365
Creating a Personal Theory of Discipline 302 Questions and Activities 366
Introduction 302 References 366
An Example of a Comprehensive Discipline CHAPTER 15
Program 303 Managing the Classroom 369
Correcting Discipline Problems 313 Introduction 369
Schoolwide Discipline 315 Beginning the Year 371
Summary 316 Getting Acquainted 371
Time Management 372
Central Ideas 317
Establishing Routines 373
Making Clear Assignments 374
References 318
Distributing Materials 374
UNIT 4 Ending the Lesson 374
Pacing 375
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT Maximizing On-Task Behavior 375
APPROACHES AND PROCEDURES 319 Stimulating Students’ Interest 376
CHAPTER 13 Guiding Students’ Learning 376
Minimizing Disruptions 377
Violence in the Schools 321
Managing the Physical Environment 377
Introduction 321 The Action Zone 377
Causes of Violence 322 Students’ Seating 378
Dysfunctional Families and Abuse 323 Classroom Environment 379
Bullying and Violence 324 Classroom Empowerment 380
Gangs and Violence 327 Parent Involvement 382
Correcting School Violence Problems 328 Parenting and Child-Rearing
Surveillance to Prohibit Violence 329 Responsibilities 382
xii 䉴 Contents
Communications 382 APPENDIX A

Volunteers 383 Online Discipline Assistance 388
School Governance and Parental Decision
APPENDIX B
Making 384
Summary 384 Address List 389
Central Ideas 385
Questions and Activities 386 Subject Index 390
References 386 Author Index 401
䉴
UN I T
1
PROBLEMS AND
ISSUES IN DISCIPLINE
The sources of school discipline problems are many and varied. Home, society,
and school all play a role. Educators often contend that problems in school
stem from children’s experiences at home or in society at large. Schools,
however, must take responsibility for some of these problems. Some home
and social problems do carry over into the schools, but many difficulties are
created through various school practices and conditions. Of particular
importance is creating schools where children feel safe. Violence in schools
is a significant threat to student safety and well-being and must be
appropriately addressed.
For schools, creating an appropriate learning environment is critical.
Learning is what schools are about. An improper learning environment strikes
at the very heart of the school’s purpose. Because good learning conditions
are critical and because discipline problems are a constant threat to learning,
classroom discipline is very important. The need for good discipline has
stimulated educators and others to create and promote a variety of
approaches to ensure that a proper learning environment is maintained. These
different approaches are based on various assumptions about human beings
and how they should be treated in the schools. These approaches also produce
different outcomes.
Because many different discipline options are available to teachers and
because there is no one generally accepted theory of discipline, individual
teachers must decide for themselves which discipline approach to use. This
decision requires teachers to examine the various assumptions on which each
discipline theory is built, as well as its principles and practices, and compare
them with their own personal values and beliefs. The purpose of Unit 1 is to
help readers to begin this important process.
1
䉴
CHAPTER
1
Discipline Problems and Their
Causes
Objectives
This chapter is designed to help you

1. Understand the nature of discipline problems and their causes.
2. Recognize the roles of home, society, and school in creating discipline problems.
3. Identify some common mistakes teachers make when they discipline their classes.
䉴 INTRODUCTION
Children often bring problems to school that originate in other areas of their lives.
Teachers must learn to recognize these problems and deal with them effectively rather
than contributing to them. Some of the more serious problems involve divorce,
abandonment, death, and various forms of abuse. Sometimes school personnel or students’
peers aggravate conditions by reacting in ways that exacerbate the situation. Teachers
not only need to discern the nature of problems children bring to school but also need
to recognize problems that are the result of how schools operate. School problems include
those that relate to academics as well as extracurricular activities, school rules and
procedures, and personal relationships. The frustrations encountered by some students
regarding these matters may result in extreme reactions. For example, children who are
excluded from belonging to a particular clique or who are ridiculed as outsiders may
sometimes take extreme measures against those who reject them. Sometimes devastating
confrontations and loss of life are the results. Educators must be able not only to skillfully
deal with these problems but also to recognize the conditions that promote these reactions
and take steps to prevent them.
䉲 Mr. Haskell looked up as Marcia sauntered into the room, late again, and no
doubt eager to disrupt the class again. He watched out of the corner of his eye as
Marcia swaggered down the aisle between the first two rows of desks and took a
seat in the back of the room. After a similar incident the day before, Mr. Haskell
had appealed to the class to help him solve the problem. Earlier in the year, the
class had agreed to rules and consequences regarding misbehavior in class. They
had decided then that students who disrupted class had to forfeit their right to sit
where they wanted and instead be placed in a designated seat near the front of
the room. Confronted with Marcia’s recent disruptiveness, they had together
3
4 䉴 Chapter 1. Discipline Problems and Their Causes
agreed that she should sit in the front row seat next to Mr. Haskell’s desk until
further notice. Obviously, Marcia was ignoring these directions and provoking a
confrontation. Mr. Haskell shuddered as he contemplated the scene that would
probably result if he tried to get Marcia to cooperate. Marcia was always picking
fights with other students and routinely threw spit wads and paper airplanes
around the room. Mr. Haskell could not remember the last time Marcia had not
disrupted the class by talking loudly to other class members. Then there was that
arrogant smirk whenever she misbehaved. It was easy to see that she was just
issuing a challenge. Mr. Haskell hated to confront Marcia because she always
seemed to prevail. Most of the class was assembled now. Mr. Haskell knew that
the bell was going to ring any minute, and he still had not decided how to deal
with the situation. Marcia was looking at him with a big smile on her face. The
other students were looking on expectantly, wondering how their teacher would
handle Marcia this time. Mr. Haskell stepped reluctantly to the front of the room
and, looking at Marcia, asked, “Class, what did you decide the consequences
should be for anyone who disrupts class?”
Amanda quickly replied for the class, “They were to be moved to the front of
the class.”
Looking directly at Marcia, Mr. Haskell said, “Marcia, you can either take
your seat here near my desk or be excused to talk to Mr. Pugmire in the
counseling department about finding a new English class.”
The entire class was now looking at Marcia. She slowly rose to her feet and,
making her way to the front of the class, picked up the hall pass and defiantly
walked through the classroom door. Mr. Haskell was suddenly aware that he had
been holding his breath. He silently exhaled and filled his lungs again. “Thank
heavens she’s gone,” he thought. “I wonder what she will do now?” Coupled
with his desire to get Marcia out of his class was a tinge of regret that he had
been unable to reach her. He knew of Marcia’s family situation—that her father
had been convicted of drug possession and was currently serving a prison term.
He also knew that Marcia was actively involved in one of the local street gangs.
Forcing these thoughts from his mind, Mr. Haskell turned to the class and
said, “All right, class, let’s get started with our lesson for the day.” For about 30
minutes Mr. Haskell involved the class in a spirited discussion. Just before he
was about to close the discussion and give the class a few minutes to start their
homework assignment, the classroom door opened and in walked Mr. Pugmire,
directing Marcia ahead of him. Walking straight up to Mr. Haskell he said, in a
voice the entire class could hear, “Mr. Haskell, you’re just going to have to take
Marcia back in your class. The other 11th-grade English classes are filled. There is
nowhere else she can be placed.” Mr. Haskell looked at Mr. Pugmire’s determined
face and then back at Marcia. He anticipated what he would see—the telltale
smirk was slowly forming on Marcia’s lips. Without waiting for further direction,
Marcia boldly turned and strutted to the back of the room, where she defiantly
took her seat.
䉴 CAUSES OF DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS

Teachers can often be overwhelmed by the discipline problems with which they have to
deal. They cause some of these problems themselves, of course. However, many of the
problems they face are an outgrowth of problems at home and in society or of conditions
and administrative procedures in the school. As illustrated in the story about Mr. Haskell
and Marcia, teachers can sometimes be confronted with a combination of these problems
all at once. Their combined effects may sometimes make it nearly impossible to handle
disruptive students effectively. When these difficulties persist despite one’s best efforts
to solve them, it is common for a teacher to blame other contributing factors. Mr. Haskell
Causes of Discipline Problems 䉳 5
could well have blamed parents, the society at large, or the ineffective performance
of counselors and administrators. Such recrimination, of course, does little to change
conditions and solve problems. Certainly, teachers can work with administrators and
counselors in an attempt to alter school policies and procedures that impede effective
discipline. They can do little, however, to change influences outside the school that promote
children’s misbehavior. But, by understanding these outside influences, they can be better
prepared to manage the discipline problems that result.
The Role of the Home

Various home experiences have an influence on children’s behavior. If parents spend little
time at home, children may seek unsuitable social experiences elsewhere, experiences
that sometimes have devastating consequences. Even when parents are at home,
parent–child interactions may be laced with conflicts. Factors such as divorce and poverty,
as well as physical and mental abuse, can adversely affect children’s ability to function
properly. Children from severely dysfunctional families in particular face enormous
adjustment problems at school.
Four aspects of dysfunctional families will be discussed briefly in this section:
• Damage to self-concept
• Attention deprivation
• Love deprivation
• Excessive control
Damage to Self-Concept. The development of self-concept in children begins long

before they start attending school. The confidence with which children enter school will
have been either enhanced or diminished by various home experiences. Children are
able, at an early age, to perceive their own helplessness when compared with larger and
more capable adults (Harris, 1967). This perception is perhaps the reason why children
so readily seek adult approval. Children’s outlook on life depends generally on how
successful parents are in helping them shift from feeling helpless to feeling confident
about themselves. Children’s intrinsic motivation to learn in school is influenced by their
perceived competence, and perceived competence has a positive influence on
subsequent academic achievement (Goldberg & Cornell, 1998). The very foundation
of children’s growth depends on their achieving a positive image of themselves as they
form a personal identity. Achieving this image involves developing a sense of personal
control over their lives. Dysfunctional families provide little or none of the emotional
support children need to develop this control, and children from such families experience
extreme personal problems (Biehler & Snowman, 1982). The success in school of children
from dysfunctional homes is greatly limited (Egyed, McIntosh, & Bull, 1998). One
problem promoting dysfunctional family life is divorce. Divorce can be an especially
difficult problem for children, putting pressure on them in several ways. For example,
some children feel personally responsible for the breakup of their parents. Loss of love
and support from one or both parents is a common result of divorce simply from the
increased absence of one or both parents. Often, parents engage in postdivorce battles
that undermine children’s confidence in their parents and promote an atmosphere of
conflict. Such conditions stimulate a good deal of insecurity and trauma. In addition,
financial problems obviously increase. Sometimes the accustomed lifestyle can be
catastrophically disrupted. Adult supervision can also be greatly reduced, predisposing
children to spend more time with peers in unsupervised settings where there is greater
potential for crime and other problems. If the single parent must work to provide for
the family, there may be even less supervision. This may pose a problem for children
in some neighborhoods where it is unsafe for them to be home alone. Under these
circumstances, children commonly become preoccupied with things other than their
schoolwork. Not only do they tend to devote less time and energy to school, but they
also fail to get the help and encouragement from parents they need to do well in their
studies (McCombs & Forehand, 1989). They also may not receive sufficient attention
from parents to enable them to develop a positive image of themselves.
Attention Deprivation. Children who do not get enough attention at home often
compensate by seeking attention from their teachers. Unfortunately, many children receive
their parents’ attention only when they misbehave. If they do not disturb parents unduly,
they are ignored. These conditions encourage unacceptable behavior and discourage
acceptable behavior. Children from such homes discover that their bad behavior is a sure
way to get the attention they crave. When children learn these behavior patterns at home,
they tend to repeat them in school. If teachers of these children do not recognize these
patterns, they can fall into the same trap of attending only to the children’s misbehavior
(Dreikurs, Grunwald, & Pepper, 1982).
Love Deprivation. Love deprivation is similar to attention deprivation. In fact, children

usually consider attention to be an indication of how much they are loved. They feel
unloved when parents are too preoccupied to give them sufficient attention. Some parents
have the mistaken idea that the quality of time spent with children can make up for the
lack of quantity. It is unlikely that children assess the time spent with them by parents
and then demand less attention if they judge it to be of sufficient quality. In fact, more
time and attention may be sought when quality time is given because children may find
it to be more reinforcing. Children are more likely to seek all the attention they can. It
seems almost to be an insatiable drive. In fact, children habitually employ recognized
devious strategies to obtain attention in a variety of circumstances (Dreikurs, Grunwald,
& Pepper, 1982). Attention seeking is really an effort to control interactions with others.
It is an attempt to achieve sufficient control to ensure obtaining a sense of belonging
at will. Children won’t abandon efforts to acquire the attention they wish just because
the attention they receive is of high quality (Glasser, 1998). Quality time is obviously
critical. However, children often interpret the lack of time spent as lack of caring. Children
deprived of love often cause discipline problems as they try to satisfy this need. They
may become so preoccupied in their quest that they gain very little from school. Early
emotional stress in connection with love deprivation is often associated with violence
(Walsh & Beyer, 1987).
Parents who are withdrawn and remote, neglectful and passive, risk the possibility
of shutting their children down emotionally. According to Coleman (2002), much of this
inadequate parenting occurs because mothers are entering the workforce in greater
numbers in addition to skyrocketing divorce rates. While this is happening, there is a lack
of social interventions, which can successfully substitute for delinquent parents. She
estimates that 15–25% of American children (12–20 million) suffer severe emotional
dysfunction as a result of this neglect. The consequence is a catastrophic increase in suicides
among youth—an 800% increase since the 1950s and a 400% increase since the late 1980s.
Serious depression among youth has increased from 2% in the 1960s to 25% in the 1990s.
This can be added to a 168% increase in homicides committed by juveniles from the mid-
1980s to the mid-1990s. Serious assaults by youth have increased by 700% since the end
of World War II. Approximately 50% of all marriages end in divorce. Currently, 31% of
children live with either one parent or neither.
Excessive Control. A history of excessive control at home may also create discipline
problems in the school, particularly when the level of control has been extreme. Human
beings need freedom; they want to control their own lives. They also want to control others
(Glasser, 1984). This conflict is particularly challenging in the rearing and teaching of
children. As children mature, they increasingly seek freedom from adult control.
Conscientious parents ordinarily allow and even encourage their children to assert their
independence as the children demonstrate an ability to use it wisely. However, some parents
not only fail to teach their children to act independently in appropriate situations, but also
actively try to stifle all independent thought or action in their children, which they regard
as signs of rebellion. The conflict between the children’s desire for freedom and the parents’
unwillingness to allow it may actually encourage the children to rebel. Rebellion at home
may extend to the school and other areas of society. In dysfunctional homes, parental control
may take the form of abuse, whose symptoms can show up in children as extreme rebellion,
criminal behavior, or withdrawal. Less involved, alienated students can be influenced to
become more engaged in school by increased caring and less control (Gordon, 1998).
Pause and Consider.

1. To what extent can problems in school be attributed to the home life of children?
2. What specific conditions in the home lead to disruptiveness in school?
The Role of Society

Society has a significant role in promoting school discipline problems. This role is sometimes
far more influential than that of the family. Social influences may be pervasive because
of parental neglect or because of the nature of the family’s role in child rearing. In addition,
intrusions are made by various social elements over which parents may have little control.
Four areas of social influence will be referred to in this section:
• Gang activity and drugs
• Peer pressure
• Technology
• Racial and class conflicts
Gang Activity and Drugs. Family influences and social influences on discipline
problems are usually interrelated. Rejection at home, for example, may encourage
children to search elsewhere for acceptance. Rejected children are often attracted to
gangs, even though—or perhaps because—certain gangs flout accepted behavioral
norms. A gang may satisfy a child’s need for attention and for an identity. Gang members
often demand and receive greater allegiance from one another than from their families.
This allegiance further alienates children from their families and solidifies their gang
identity. As evidence of their worthiness to join a gang, children are sometimes expected
to participate in acts deplored by the rest of society—an armed robbery or a mugging,
for example—and they may be periodically required to repeat such acts to confirm
their commitment to the gang’s value system. Such participation is designed to force
members to choose between the gang and society and to reinforce loyalty within the
gang. Gangs tend to be territorial, and conflict between gangs or within a gang usually
revolves around turf, privilege, or property. The conflict can turn violent. When gangs
become established, school officials may have considerable difficulty dislodging them
(Lal, Lal & Achilles, 1993).
A problem often associated with gangs, but certainly not limited to them, is drug abuse.
Using or selling illegal drugs not only influences students’ behavior directly but also alters
the general atmosphere of the school. Drug abuse and its associated violence have become
so severe in many schools that school officials must enlist the help of law enforcement
personnel to maintain order. Although physical and sexual maltreatment is associated with
increased risk for gang involvement (Thompson & Braaten-Antrim, 1998), schools
perpetuate the social expectations that criminalize some urban youth. Racism by individual
teachers and institutional racism stereotype many students as doomed to fail or destined
to be gang members (Katz, 1997).
Peer Pressure. Peer pressure, which is part of everyday life at school, contributes
significantly to shaping students’ behavior. If their peer group considers school a joke,
students may go along with the crowd and put little effort into their studies; nearly every
large high school has such a group, universally recognized but rarely acknowledged.
Interestingly, peer pressure has the single largest influence on female gang involvement.
Girls turn to gangs for protection from neighborhood crime, abusive families, and other
gangs. Lack of parental warmth and family conflicts are linked to gang involvement (Walker-
Barnes & Mason, 2001).
If students place great value on conspicuous consumption, they may feel compelled
to keep up with the latest styles (Simpson, Douglas, & Schimmel, 1998). An increasing
number of students carry and listen to portable CD players, which often interfere with
their attentiveness in class.
Technology. Even the kind of music children play may be a source of conflict between
them and their teachers. Rap music is sometimes identified as being connected to various
specific crimes committed by youth. Rap music is often confrontational and violent in
its orientation. Sometimes it suggests that violence be aimed at a particular segment of
the population, like police officers. Rap music is readily available to youth not only on
tapes and compact discs but also through music video channels on television.
In addition, there has been an enormously rapid growth in the availability of
videocassettes and CDs, either for rental or for purchase, containing programming that
is violent and/or pornographic. There is evidence that this kind of programming has a
negative impact on children’s behavior and may, in part, be responsible for specific criminal
behavior (Paik & Comstock, 1994). Currently, there is also a controversy surrounding the
availability of pornography via computer networks. Even very young children have access
to these materials through the Internet. Schools have tried to block access to offensive
materials, but this may not have taken place in some homes.
Furthermore, students’ schoolwork—and their attitudes—may suffer if they work
long hours at part-time jobs to earn money for clothes, music, or electronic equipment.
(Some students, of course, have to work because their families need the money.) If students
feel that their interests lie elsewhere, they may drop out of school.
Also, widespread use of the Internet has become a threat to students. Aside from
the excessive amount of time that may be spent “surfing the Web and involvement in
chat rooms,” there is increasing availability of pornography and the threat of child predation.
There were 24 million youth aged 10 through 17 who were online regularly in 1999 where
large numbers of them encountered sexual solicitations they did not want, sexual material
they did not seek, and people who threatened and harassed them (Finkelhor, Mitchell,
& Wolak, 2000). Filtering software has been developed to screen objectionable materials
but may or may not be sufficiently effective (Siegel, 1998; Taylor, 1998). In addition, the
U.S. Supreme Court has struck down parts of the 1996 Communications Decency Act
designed to protect children from pornography as violating First Amendment rights

(Biemiller & Blumenstyk, 1997). The Internet is generally considered both a great boon
to educating youth and a significant threat to their well-being. Educators will need to be
vigilant to protect youth from great potential harm.
In 1998, there were 17 million children aged 2–8 who were routinely online. At this
time, computer involvement was expected to grow to more than 42 million by the year
2003 (Coleman, 2002).
Children become obsessed with video games, which not only contribute to violence
as it is depicted in the games themselves, but also capture their attention away from core
legitimate learning experiences. Video games provide models for children for dominance
over others, submission, hatred, contempt, and callousness when in fact they need models
of caring and commitment, along with joy and zest for life. Video games also alert children
to new techniques for bullying. Children who engage excessively in solitary fantasy play
offered by video game may fail to learn the social skills and emotional adjustments necessary
for working cooperatively with other children in the classroom (Watson-Ellam, 1997).
Television watching can also reduce the effectiveness of students' learning. It fails
to promote logical, sequential thinking, which is essential to an understanding of cause
and effect relationships. These problems are closely tied to children's intellectual and
behavioral or emotional difficulties including violence. It may be that the nature of television
is a greater risk factor for promoting violence than the content. TV and computers can
diminish creativity, imagination, and motivation and depress attention span and the desire
to persevere (Coleman, 2002).
In addition to the above potential negative influences of technology, it is also credited
with distracting students from learning. The prime example is ipods. With their ipods,
students are able to download an enormous amount of music to which they might listen
through much of the day. Some school districts have rushed to create rules to regulate
the use of ipods. In the absence of this, some teachers have found it necessary to initiate
their own regulations.
Racial and Class Conflicts. Racial problems also contribute to the growing unrest and
conflict in society. In many larger cities, civil unrest along with forced integration and other
factors stimulated “white flight” (the white population leaving urban areas). This created
central city areas populated by the black poor and other disadvantaged racial groups. These
pockets of poverty along with racial tensions have promoted riots accompanied by burning
and looting of a magnitude that is truly frightening. These shifting demographics and racial
tensions along with changing economic conditions and unemployment create a climate
that is like a powder keg waiting for the fuse to be lit. On April 29, 1992, in Los Angeles,
when the defendants in the Rodney King case were acquitted of police brutality, the fuse
was lit, and the resultant riot escalated into a horrifying display of violence. Episodes of
this kind are more likely to polarize races than stimulate unity.
The hope for “melting pot” of various races coming to America and creating a new
“American race” has never become a reality. Different races have settled in their own
enclaves, trying to maintain a sense of racial identity while at the same time trying to
participate in the American Dream of wealth and prosperity. However, many find it difficult
even to sustain themselves, which is due to the unemployment and poverty that surround
them. In some areas, particularly in those states bordering Mexico and the Pacific Ocean,
immigration, both legal and illegal, has created extreme economic pressures. Current law
provides for even illegal aliens to receive welfare assistance and other benefits. In California
this has reached crisis proportions, precipitating the passage of a referendum that limits
benefits to illegal aliens. Because the bulk of the illegal aliens are Hispanics, and because
they make up an enormous percentage of the poor as well as an increasing proportion

of the total population in California, conditions are ripening for additional rioting and
violence. Active drug trafficking and other criminal activity exacerbate the situation.
Children who grow up in such environments will experience a far less productive
education. Problems they encounter in society find their way into the school in the form
of less learning, poor emotional adjustment, violence, and discipline problems. Children,
of course, benefit less in schools with extreme discipline problems. This unfortunately
undermines their capacity to escape from the conditions that keep them bound to poverty
generation after generation.
Pause and Consider.

1. What can parents do to limit the negative effects of problems in society that
contribute to difficulties in the home and school?
The Role of the School

Teachers usually consider students to be the source of school discipline problems. However,
many behaviors should be looked on as normal reactions by children to deficiencies in
the school as an institution and to teachers and administrators as directors of the educational
enterprise. In fact, the school not only may promote misbehavior in students, but may
also help create conditions that put children at risk generally. Teachers and administrators
can invite discipline problems if they
1. Misunderstand learning conditions and require students to learn information that
is not meaningful to them.
2. Fail to encourage the development of independent thinking patterns in students.
3. Establish rigid conditions for students to meet in order to feel accepted.
4. Sponsor a competitive grading system that prohibits success for the majority of
the students and erodes their self-concepts.
5. Exercise excessive control over students and fail to provide an environment in
which children can become autonomous and independent.
6. Use discipline procedures that promote misbehavior (Edwards, 1989).
Each of these problem-promoting practices will be discussed in detail in this section.
Instruction Without Context. Educators may fail their students if they teach concepts
as though they were abstract, self-contained entities. Outside the school, children learn
by acquiring information in a real-life context and applying it to new situations and
experiences. In school, however, students may be expected to manipulate symbolic
information and to apply it in ways that are detached from the real world. Under such
conditions, children fail to make proper associations and are unable to apply what they
learn to the problems they face each day (Resnick, 1987). Because they are unable to
readily comprehend the usefulness of what they are taught in school, they are frustrated.
They see school as unrelated to real life. They are required to attend, but they find no
meaning there. They repeatedly ask why they have to learn what teachers offer and often
sabotage the learning of classmates. Many of the difficulties encountered in school by
youth stem from mismatches between teens’ developmental needs and the experiences
provided in most secondary schools. A depersonalized, punitive, rote-learning ambience,
which schools generally provide, cannot meet adolescents’ needs for affiliation,
autonomy, and cognitive challenges (Kohn, 1999a).
A number of things can be done to alleviate this problem. Considerable emphasis is

currently being placed on school reform in America. One of these reform movements is
an effort to involve students in community service. These service experiences, designed
as outgrowths of academic programs, are intended to give students an opportunity to learn
in practical settings. Commonly, these service experiences not only help students learn
civic responsibility, but also provide a means of acquiring important social, scientific, and
communication skills.
For example, students in Salt Lake City have been responsible for the cleanup of
a hazardous waste site, the passage of two crucial environmental laws, the planting of
hundreds of trees, and the completion of several neighborhood improvement projects
(Lewis, 1991). In the south Bronx, students have been involved in the restoration of a
building to be used for homeless people. In Chicopee, Massachusetts, middle schools
have saved the city $119,500 by helping to solve sewage problems. Students in Brooks
County, Georgia, were responsible for establishing a daycare center that has been in
operation since 1981 (Nathan & Kielsmeier, 1991). Researchers have concluded that
these activities not only have enhanced and broadened students’ academic performance
but also have contributed greatly to the social and psychological development of
participants (Conrad & Hedin, 1991).
In science education, a similar new approach has been advanced in a program called
Science Technology Society (STS). In this program, students identify a social problem
that can be studied both scientifically and technologically. They may, for example, choose
to work on a specific pollution problem, using their science skills to take measurements
of various pollutants and track their effects. When the problem has been carefully studied,
the students make their recommendations to appropriate community groups. In some
cases, when they have received little or no response, groups of students have been given
free legal services to initiate litigation to correct the problem (Bybee, 1985).
Students can also gain academic experience that is less abstract through work-study
programs in which they spend part of the school day working for various community
agencies. Each student may work in a doctor’s office, insurance company, factory, or other
location to learn how school is related to the world of work and to explore various career
opportunities. When students are involved in service- and project-based curricula, far fewer
discipline and personal problems can be anticipated.
Failure to Teach Thinking Skills. When children are consistently unable to solve
their problems, they often seek to escape them through alcohol or other drugs or various
thrill-seeking activities. Some drop out of school or even commit suicide (Frymier, 1988).
Some children fail to find satisfactory solutions to their problems because they have
difficulty thinking through them. Some have trouble organizing their lives and responding
appropriately to life’s demands. Others are unable to set priorities for themselves. If
higher-order thinking skills were regularly taught in the schools, a good deal of frustration
and failure, as well as behavioral problems, could be avoided. Learning these skills would
also help children deal with conflicts at home and elsewhere (Kohn, 1996).
Traditional methods of teaching make learning a passive endeavor. Students are just
expected to assimilate information. Recently, cognitive psychologists have proposed that
learners be allowed to generate their own conceptual structures (Jones, 1988). Children
actually resist knowledge assimilation; instead, they insist on adding to their present
conceptual structures only the knowledge that makes sense to them personally (Osborne
& Wittrock, 1983). In other words, they tend to learn only what fits in with what they
already know. Teachers must introduce children to higher-order thinking so that they can
make more valid conceptual structures of the world. Failure to do so dooms children to
the frustration of taking simplistic lessons memorized in school and trying to apply them
to the complex problems of the modern world. It is unfortunate, and ironic, that the
children who mostly lack advanced thinking skills are considered at risk because they also
lack basic skills. They are assigned remedial work, while their more advanced
counterparts are given more meaningful and integrated learning experiences (Shavelson,
1985), experiences from which they too might greatly benefit.
A number of excellent programs are currently available for teaching children how
to think and make valid decisions. Most have sets of materials that can be used as
supplementary lessons in nearly every classroom. Chance (1986) has reviewed eight
different programs and compared their characteristics, goals, methods, underlying
philosophy, and target audiences. The eight programs include sample exercises, along with
research data and staff development requirements. These programs are
• Cognitive Research Trust (CoRT) Thinking Lessons
• Productive Thinking Program
• Philosophy for Children
• Odyssey
• Instrumental Enrichment
• Problem Solving and Comprehension
• Techniques of Learning
• Thoughtful Teaching
Teaching thinking skills can provide a means of improving students’ motivation and
help solve the perennial problems of failure, disillusionment, and unmet potential in
students. In the process, many discipline problems can be avoided (Marzano et al., 1988).
Nonacceptance. Without realizing it, many teachers convey nonacceptance to some of

their students. For example, when teachers force students to do a task in a prescribed
way, they implicitly show a lack of confidence in the students’ ability to make decisions
about their own work. In an attempt to show approval, a teacher may say to a student,
“You have done good work, but I know you can do better” or “It really helps a lot when
you clean up your work area.” Such praise carries with it implied criticism; it rewards
students for conformity but leaves their need for acceptance unfulfilled. Children do need
to grow and therefore to change. However, they also need to feel that they are acceptable
as they are.
The simplest way to avoid conveying nonacceptance is to permit students to evaluate
themselves more and to establish their own directions and expectations. Allowing self-
evaluation does not mean simply letting students give themselves a grade. Children must
compare their own performances over time to achieve a sense of their own growth and
to learn and accept the true value of their efforts.
Competitive Grading. Many schools foster competition between children through the
use of grades. Only a few students, however, are consistently good at taking tests. The rest
must find other means of bolstering their sense of worth. Unfortunately, many of them
conclude that they are less able—they would say “dumber”—than more successful
classmates and are therefore less valuable. Competitive grading undermines learning. In
schools that constantly emphasize the importance of success, students regard learning as
a chore, avoid challenging tasks, and value ability more than effort. Students should be
able to think, write, and explore without worrying how good they are (Kohn, 1999b).
Thus, in an effort to motivate them, schools can demoralize students with the implicit
threat of possible failure. They virtually ensure that many students will fail and feel the
sense of incompetence that comes with failure (Englander, 1986).
Some teachers make sincere efforts to reduce the impact of school competition by
giving more high grades or refusing to give students failing grades. Many teachers realize
the detrimental effects of grading on their students but feel powerless to change the system.
Some school districts actually impose grade quotas on teachers, who are not allowed to
give too many high grades for fear that grade inflation will erode academic standards.
Making evaluation less traumatic for students may be one of the most difficult
problems teachers have to face. The system of norm-based grades, in which the
performance of each student is compared with that of others, may have to be set aside
in favor of other systems. Such changes certainly merit consideration. Many teachers who
recognize the negative effects of grades have already made some adjustments to lessen
their impact. Nevertheless, competition for grades, with all its attendant problems,
continues.
One adjustment some teachers have made is to evaluate students’ progress individually
and grade them accordingly. Others have involved their students in the evaluation process.
This practice has the added advantage of helping students become more self-directed.
The problem with most of these adjustments is that letter grades are given as a consequence
of the evaluations. These grades, which still carry the connotation that students are being
compared with one another academically, are likely to promote some of the same problems
as grades given in the regular norm-based system. This problem will continue until
universities and employers begin to accept forms of evaluation other than comparative
grading and school professionals and parents begin to recognize fully the negative impact
of grades and make appropriate changes.
The use of standardized tests is another questionable assessment strategy. High-stakes
tests are commonly used to determine the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom,
but they undermine learning and are unfair, particularly for low-income minority children
(Kohn, 2000, 2002).
Excessive Coercion. Much is said by teachers and school administrators about teaching
children to be more responsible. This “responsibility” often consists of completing
assignments on time and accomplishing other tasks as directed. Students judged to be
the most responsible and mature are those who comply exactly with expectations.
Responsibility, however, requires the exercise of free will and the opportunity to make
choices. Ironically, a common assumption behind many school practices is that children
are unable to govern themselves or even to learn how to be self-regulating. Students,
therefore, are given few opportunities to make decisions. Teachers fear that students will
behave improperly—get “out of control”—if they are allowed “too much” freedom.
Undoubtedly, some children appear to have little ability to direct their own lives. This
apparent inability prompts teachers to give them excessive guidance and to exercise too
much coercive control. The result is increased rebellion by students. When children rebel,
teachers believe that they have made correct assumptions about the students’
irresponsibility. More control is the usual remedy. Unfortunately, rebellion cannot be
subdued by coercion and control. Perhaps some children can be broken in this process,
but many others rebel all the more. These “incorrigible” children usually end up being
expelled (Kohn, 1999a).
Children who are coerced commonly develop a sense of personal powerlessness. They
feel like second-class citizens and justifiably so. They are, in fact, second-class citizens
because they may be subject to the wishes and whims of teachers and school administrators
without recourse. Sometimes students are given quasi-authority when elected to the student
council or other student governing bodies. Their decisions and actions are always subject
to veto by those who have the real authority. Under these conditions, students are prone
to put their authority to the test only to have their suspicions confirmed that they have
none at all. They are left with no way to appeal their powerlessness but to rebel.
Happily, responsibility can be taught by providing children with more real
opportunities to make decisions. Responsible actions will replace rebellious ones when
children are taught to make valid decisions within a context of free choice and when they
are held personally accountable for the decisions they make. This is how true responsibility
is fostered. A balance must be struck between the teacher’s control and students’ self-
determination. Students should not simply be turned loose to do as they wish. They must
be involved with the teacher in responsible decision making.
Punishment. The method of discipline used by teachers and administrators may itself
contribute to discipline problems. Historically, punishment is how society has dealt with
infractions. It is still the most common way to deal with discipline problems in school.
From 80% to 90% of the rule violations in schools are dealt with punitively (Englander,
1986). The long tradition of punishment in schools has been supported by general child-
rearing practices, court decisions, and public opinion. Part of this tradition includes corporal
punishment. The use of corporal punishment has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court,
but by 1996, 23 states had forbidden its use in the schools (Hyman, 1996). Despite the
fact that corporal punishment is increasingly being abolished by state laws, Chase (1975)
reports that the majority of teachers and parents believe in its use. Perhaps in time, it
will be universally considered unacceptable for use in schools.
Although punishment is still the most prevalent means of dealing with problems in
the schools, most of the research on punishment is dated. There seems to be little current
Figure 1.1 Teachers sometimes focus attention on misbehaving students by isolating them within
the classroom.
Historical Perspectives 䉳 15
interest in the subject. In addition, most of the research that is done in this area focuses
on the extent to which punishment can be successfully used to enforce students’
compliance. Little attention has been given to other effects of punishment. The research
on punishment and its effects is explored more fully in Chapter 4.
If punishment tends to be ineffective and produces unexpected negative results, what
can be done to replace it? Most of the discipline approaches outlined in this book are
punishment-free. Among them, teachers will find a number of ways to deal with
misbehavior in nonpunitive ways.
Violence in the Schools. Thousands of children stay home from school every day, some
fearing for their lives because of the bullying they experience (Vail, 1999). Bullying has
been linked to school massacres that have been on the increase since the mid-1950s.
Ironically, many adults are unaware of the prevalence of bullying and tend to handle
bullying cases poorly (Hazler, 1999). A good share of this problem may stem from the
fact that schools and school districts have grown exponentially larger, impersonal, and
bureaucratic, and are run with excessive coercion (Meier, 1999).
In addition to potential homicide, bullying promotes anxiety, depression, and
psychosomatic symptoms (Kallrala, Rimipela, Rantanen, & Rrimpela, 2000). Because of
the insensitivity of school staff regarding the prevalence of bullying, and the low support
bullied students receive, affected students often show poor mental health (Rigby, 2000)
and increased suicide ideation (Rigby & Slee, 1999).
Students who are singled out to be bullied often are the nonathleltes. They are
commonly introverts or nonconformists and are labeled as “geeks” or “nerds.” These
students are isolates and experience feelings of alienation and rejection. Usually, they harbor
feelings of fear and hatred for their tormenters (Wallace, 2000).
Bullies receive an unusual level of support from other students, especially boys
(O’Connell, Pepler, & Craig, 1999). Changes in school organization and practices hold
the best hope for eliminating violence in the schools. Current school conditions may actually
encourage aggressive behavior. Not only do students need to be taught about violence
and its causes, but they also need to have school experiences that promote caring and
cooperation among school peers.
䉴 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
Discipline problems have long been recognized as some of the most significant difficulties
schools face. Public opinion, as reflected in the annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll, ranked
discipline as the most serious school problem from 1968 to 1984. For the next 7 years,
drug abuse received the highest rankings with discipline continuing to be ranked very
high. Discipline has been among the top-rated school problems through the poll's entire
37-year existence (Rose & Gallup, 2005). Despite the seriousness of discipline and violence
problems, they are not insurmountable obstacles. Recognizing this, educators have seriously
studied these difficulties in order to find solutions. It has been found that many of the
factors that promote discipline problems are not unalterable constraints, but rather factors
that can be successfully dealt with by teachers and principals. And despite implied negative
input from students regarding schooling, it has been found that students want to be
successful and desire a learning environment, which is conducive to learning (Phelan,
Davidson, & Cao, 1992).
Before the 1930s, school discipline featured punishment as the primary mode of
classroom control. In the United States, this often included corporal punishment. In the
late 1940s and early 1950s, serious efforts were made to replace punishment with more
humane discipline practices. At this time, two separate emphases emerged. One employed
the work of B.F. Skinner who advocated the use of carefully administered contingencies
of reinforcement (rewards) to manage student behavior. The second emphasis was primarily
championed by Carl R. Rogers. Where Skinner advocated tight control and manipulation
of student behavior, Rogers supported a teacher role of encouragement, trust, and
facilitation. Skinner believed classroom disruptiveness was certain if students' behavior
was not regulated and controlled. On the contrary, Rogers thought children could best
become actualized and responsible through teacher encouragement and guidance. Under
these conditions, children would naturally become better self-disciplined (Rogers, 1969;
Skinner, 1953).
Since the 1950s, a number of discipline models have emerged that represent a full
spectrum between student freedom and teacher control. Eight of these are given in detail
in the text: Behavior Modification, Assertive Discipline, Logical Consequences, Teacher
Effectiveness Training, Reality Therapy/Choice Theory, Judicious Discipline, Democratic
Discipline, and the Jones Model. The following are short descriptions of some additional
models that are described in the literature.
Fritz Redl and William Watttenberg were two of the earliest discipline theorists. They
believed in treating children humanely. They also supported the practice of having students
help set class standards and deciding how misbehavior should be handled. They thought
punishment should be used only as a last resort (Redl & Wattenberg, 1951).
Jacob Kounin created a discipline model based on extensive observations made in
hundreds of classrooms. He discovered that certain skills were common among teachers
who had fewer discipline problems. More successful teachers were able to intervene in
class disruptions with greater clarity and firmness and in a nonthreatening manner. They
also had the ability to monitor the entire classroom simultaneously and accurately target
misbehaving students. In addition, they were able to expertly manage multiple
operations concurrently. When teachers seem aware of all that was going on in the
classroom all the time, students seemed less inclined to test the limits (Kounin, 1970).
Transactional Analysis was introduced by Eric Berne and popularized by Thomas
Harris. It was based on the idea that classrooms would be less disruptive if both students
and teachers operated out of the Adult ego-state in their communications. Three different
ego-states could be acquired as a result of children's growing-up experiences. When they
received affirmation and acceptance, they developed an Adult ego-state. These
individuals are reasonable, thinking people who know how to expedite successful
interactions with others.
Either a Parent ego-state or a Child ego-state comes from insufficient "stroking" or
care. People who operate primarily out of the Parent ego-state try to communicate with
demands and reprimands while the Child ego-state predisposes them to a highly emotional
and often irresponsible way of responding (Berne, 1964; Harris, 1967).
The discipline model of Hiam Ginott also emphasizes teachers' communication skills.
He encouraged teachers to avoid the use of labels, criticism, and sarcasm and to temper
the way they communicate anger. He believed discipline would be improved if teachers
fostered the independence of children while learning to accept their feelings and helping
them understand themselves. He emphasized student autonomy and was among the first
to identify the negative impact of praise on students (Ginott, 1971).
James Dobson created what is essentially a punishment discipline model. He thought
children should learn to submit to authority. The role of the teacher was to control their
behavior. He felt youngsters are inherently selfish and stubborn, thus making punishment
necessary. Dobson believed corporal punishment was a valuable way to control children's
disruptive behavior (Dobson, 1970, 1992).
Historical Perspectives 䉳 17
Richard Curwin and Allen Mendler's Discipline With Dignity was designed to help
students become successful in school by assisting them to achieve and maintain a sense
of dignity and hope. According to them, effective teachers have rules, monitor compliance,
and provide consequences quickly and consistently. Teachers learn to prevent discipline
problems by increasing self-awareness, as well as awareness of student needs and desires,
expressing feeling, and utilizing various models of discipline. They believe rule-making
should involve students and include the creation of a social contract. Teachers should
positively interact with students. Rewards and privileges should be offered to students
as appropriate (Curwin & Mendler, 2001).
Cooperative Discipline was created by Linda Albert. With this model, students are
taught to believe in themselves, become involved in cooperative relationships with peers,
and energetically contribute to the class. A code of conduct is created jointly by teachers,
students, and parents. Teachers monitor classroom behavior and implement the code of
conduct. Consequences are to be reasonable, respectful, and reliably reinforced and directly
related to the misbehavior (Albert, 2003).
Positive Discipline was produced by Jane Nelson, Lynn Lot, and H. Stephen Glenn.
The focus is on helping students accept and respect others, communicating effectively,
and finding solutions to classroom problems. Class meetings are the featured mode of
promoting good discipline. Teachers encourage good relationships and an environment
of care. Students share the role of leader in class meetings. Solutions created in class
meetings should be used to deal with misbehavior. The teacher is significantly involved
in managing class meetings (Nelsen, Lott, & Glenn, 2000).
Win–Win Discipline seeks to help students satisfy their needs legitimately rather than
disruptively. The curriculum should be interesting and challenging and students should
be involved in cooperative learning. Rules consist of class agreements that the teacher
enforces. The teacher employs various techniques for managing student misbehavior
(Kagan, Scott, & Kagan, 2003).
Coloroso's Inner Discipline emphasizes the development of a caring community in
the classroom. Students are to be treated with dignity and taught how to think and solve
problems. Teachers are to provide reasonable consequence when students misbehave.
In the application of consequences, it is critical that teachers avoid students' requests to
modify them (Coloroso, 2002).
The Honor Level System of Discipline created by Budd Churchward provides rewards
and punishments for students depending on the degree of their misbehavior. He has
defined four levels. Level One consists of students who demonstrate no misbehavior for
a period of 14 days. They receive rewards such as ice cream, longer lunch breaks, and
coupons for free movies or hamburgers. Level Two is for students who have made only
one or two infractions during the past 14 days. They receive a lesser reward. Three or
more infractions put the students into Level Three. These students receive no rewards.
Students who habitually misbehave are placed in Level Four and are punished by not
being allowed to attend assemblies, dances, or athletic events. Repeated infractions can
result in detention or suspension from school.
The central focus of C.M. Charles' Synergetic Discipline deals with potential discipline
problems through the establishment of cooperative classroom agreements. Charles
acknowledges that classroom problems reside in students not only as they try to satisfy
their needs and function in the classroom, but also because of the influence of peers, the
instructional environment, and the teacher's skills and limitations. He emphasizes the
need for teachers to energize the classroom by helping students satisfy their needs, by
providing experiences that are closely related to successful living, by developing personal
ethics and trustworthiness, by increasing personal charisma, by improving the quality of
communication, and by helping students resolve problems and conflicts productively. In

working with misbehaving students, Charles recommends that teachers remind them of
their agreements, identify causes of misbehavior, limit the causes as much as possible,
and then help students to understand what is behind their disruptiveness (Charles, 2002).
Marvin Marshall believes in Discipline Through Raising Responsibility. The focus is
on helping students become self-disciplined. Personal responsibility is promoted by having
students reflect on their personal behavior and compare it with behavior that will benefit
them and others. He emphasizes an abandonment of rewards and punishments and instead
tries to get students to take initiative in developing personal responsibility for their behavior.
Students are helped to see the natural consequences of four levels of behavior: Level
A—Anarchy with complete disorder and no attention to standards and expectations. Level
B—Bossing and bullying others. Level C—Students conforming to teacher expectations.
Level D—Students taking initiative to be responsible. Teachers help students analyze their
behavior in terms of the four levels. They may also have students fill out self-diagnostic
forms to help them understand the problems they create and how to solve them. If necessary,
further self-diagnoses may be required. These forms may be sent to parents or to the school
administrator (Marshall, 2001).
䉴 SUMMARY
Discipline problems experienced in school may originate in the family or in society at large, but
many problems are aggravated and sometimes caused by school policies and procedures as well
as by teachers and other school personnel. To reduce the number of discipline problems, teachers
need to make learning more relevant and meaningful, foster independent thinking, show greater
acceptance of diversity, encourage cooperative learning, avoid excessive control, and discontinue
the use of punishment to discipline children.
䉴 CENTRAL IDEAS
1. School discipline problems can be created at home if parents do not provide their children
a. family unity
b. the support they need to develop a healthy self-concept
c. adequate attention
d. unconditional love
e. an opportunity to develop responsible independence
2. Certain aspects of society can cause discipline problems in the school. The following social
phenomena are particularly important:
a. Peer pressure plays a strong role in shaping children’s behavior.
b. Gangs in particular often recruit members from among children who have experienced
adjustment problems at school and at home. Gangs often create problems for schools by
pushing drugs and encouraging delinquency and violence in their members, especially
participation in illegal acts as a sign of their allegiance to the gang.
c. Factors such as the drive to earn money to buy the latest styles of clothing can also affect
students’ participation in and attitudes toward school.
3. Schools create their own discipline problems by
a. failing to provide children relevant, meaningful learning
b. failing to help children learn to think independently
c. failing to show children they are accepted
d. exercising too much coercion
References 䉳 19
e. forcing children to compete with one another and thereby limiting the number who can
be successful
f. disciplining with punishment
䉴 QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES

Questions to Consider
1. What can teachers do in the classroom to counter the negative effects coming from
dysfunctional homes and societal problems?
2. What modifications are needed in classrooms and in the schools generally to help eliminate
discipline problems?
Classroom Activities
1. Engage in a debate in which each of three different student groups supports one of the
following three roles in terms of having the greatest influence on student misbehavior in
the classroom: (a) role of the home, (b) role of society, and (c) role of the schools.
2. In class, discuss factors not mentioned in the text that have a negative effect on children
and might have a role in promoting classroom misbehavior.
Student Applications
1. Interview a veteran teacher and try to ascertain his or her opinion about the major causes
of student disruptiveness in the schools. In framing your questions, have the respondent
focus the influence of the home, society, and schools.
2. Write a position paper in which you defend your point of view about the most influential
causes of discipline problems in the schools and what you think should be done about
them.
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real sacrifice, of course, but she says she is willing to make it.
Waiting won’t help anybody. It will only stretch out the quarreling and
misery. So, as we see it, it is simply plain common sense, our
marrying now. And we shall marry now, just as soon as we can. You
can’t stop us—no one can.”
Reliance was silent. She would have liked to say much, to continue
her protest—but how could she? The essential fact in this statement
was beyond contradiction. Neither Townsend nor Cook would ever
consent to such a marriage—she knew it. What Bob Griffin had just
said was common sense and nothing else. And yet, conscious of the
responsibility forced upon her, she did not entirely surrender. She
made one more plea.
“Oh, Esther,” she begged, “are you sure you care enough to—to go
through with this? Not just now, but later, all your life? No matter if it
means doin’ without all the fine things you have been used to, bein’
poor perhaps—and—”
“Hush! Yes, Auntie, I am sure.”
Her aunt wrung her hands. “Well,” she groaned, “I give up. I have
said my say, I guess. I have done what I could. The dear Lord knows
I hope we will none of us be too sorry in the years to come.”
She walked across the room, stood there a moment and then turned.
Her manner now was brisk and businesslike.
“There!” she said. “The milk is spilled. No use tryin’ to pick it up or
talk about it. What are your plans? Where is the weddin’ to be?”
Esther looked at Bob and it was Bob who answered.
“We haven’t decided that exactly,” he said. “All this decision of ours
is so sudden that we haven’t had time to plan much of anything. My
horse and buggy are out at the gate. I am going to take Esther over
to my cousin’s house in South Denboro to-night. I shall go home.
Then, in the morning, she will meet me at the station and we will take
the early train for Boston. As soon as we can—sometime to-morrow,
of course—we shall be married. Then, if I can get a stateroom and
passage on the steamer, we shall—”
“Hush! Wait, wait, wait! Let me understand this plan. You aren’t going
to be married until to-morrow—in Boston? You were goin’ to go away
from Harniss without bein’ married?”
Bob stared at her. “I told you,” he said, slowly, “that I should take
Esther to my cousin’s house in South Denboro. I shall leave her
there and go home. Look here, Miss Clark, I don’t quite understand
what you mean by—”
“Oh, hush! Mercy on us, what children you two are, after all. I am not
worried about you. I know you are all right, both of you. But I am
worried about what everybody else will say. Haven’t you lived long
enough to know that the average person is only too delighted to get
a chance to say a mean thing? Haven’t you heard what has been
said about other young idiots in this town who have— Oh, but there!
They shan’t have the chance to say them about you. I’ll see to that.
Esther, take off your things. Bob, you keep yours on, for I shall want
you to go out on an errand in a minute.... Dear, dear, dear! If we only
had more time. Esther, when did your uncle expect to be back from
Ostable?”
“Why, I don’t know exactly. Not until late; he said that to me.”
“Late! Well, I wish I knew how late. Tell me, will he know you have
come here?”
“I suppose Varunas, if he is up, will tell him I sent my bag here.”
“Yes, of course. And he will come chasin’ down here first thing. You
didn’t tell him you were leavin’ him for good?”
“No. I meant to write him a letter telling him why I could not live with
him any longer and how terribly I felt at leaving him, although I knew
it was right. But I wanted to see Bob first. I shall write that letter this
evening, at South Denboro.”
“No, you won’t. You will write it right here in this house. That is one of
the things you must do before you go to South Denboro. And it is
important; but not as important as somethin’ else.”
“Auntie!... How strange you look—and act. What is it?”
“Strange! I feel strange—but I haven’t got time to think about it. Oh,
dear, dear! I ought to go out and open that post office this minute.
Esther, come into the front room with me. Mr. Griffin will excuse us, I
guess. He’ll have to. Come.”
She hurried her niece into the little parlor, a room of course almost
never used. Bob, left in the sitting-room, heard the clink of a lamp
chimney and the scratch of a match. Then the hum of hurried
conversation. Esther’s voice rose in an exclamation, apparently in
expostulation, but her aunt’s sharp command hushed it to silence. A
few minutes later Reliance hurried out.
“She’s writin’ the note to her Uncle Foster,” she explained, quickly.
“Poor thing, it will be terribly hard to do. As for him, when he reads it
— Well, I mustn’t think about him now. For the rest, she will do it.
She agreed with me that it may be best. Whether she agreed or not
it would be done just the same. I know it is best.”
Bob shook his head.
“If I knew what this was all about,” he began, with a shrug, “I—”
“You’re goin’ to learn. It is just this: You aren’t goin’ to be married in
Boston to-morrow—or to-morrow anywhere else. You are goin’ to be
married to-night, right here in this sittin’ room, by a Harniss minister.
You are goin’ to be married right here where I can see it done, and
be a witness to it. Then, if anybody dares to say anything out of the
way, they’ll have me to reckon with.... Don’t stop to argue about it;
neither of us have got time for that. I must go out and open the office
and you must chase right up to Ezra Farmer’s house—Ezra’s the
town clerk, probably you know him—and get the license or certificate
or whatever is necessary.... Don’t talk! Don’t!”
Bob did talk, of course, but not for long. Reliance’s sharp, to the
point sentences convinced him that she was right. Gossip—a certain
kind of gossip—would be smothered before it was uttered if he and
Esther were married there and then, with her aunt as witness. And, if
Esther was willing, surely he was. In a daze he listened to Miss
Clark’s final instructions.
“That Farmer man,” she said, “may sputter a little about givin’ you
the certificate. It’s past his office hours and he may want to use that
as an excuse to put you off. The real trouble is that he will be afraid
of what Foster Townsend will say to him to-morrow. Don’t let him
scare you a mite. And, if worse comes to worst offer him four or five
times his regular fee. That will stiffen his backbone—if I know Ezra.”
She was flying about the sitting-room, trying to untie her apron
strings with shaking fingers, and chattering continuously.
“Better not leave your horse and team out here,” she said. “Some of
the mail-time crowd will be sure to see it and want to know why. Take
it up to the livery stable and leave it there.... No, I tell you what to do.
Drive it right through my yard and hitch it out in the dark back of the
hen house. You can walk to Farmer’s; it’s only a little way.... I’ll
attend to the minister myself.... Now is there anything else? I haven’t
had any supper, but never mind that. Before you go you might see to
the tea kettle; it’s boilin’ all over the stove.... I’ll shut up the post office
at half past eight to-night and I’ll be in a little while after that, minister
and all.... I wonder now if— But there, I can’t stop. Don’t let Esther
worry or get frightened. Everything will be all right. What a mercy I
sent Millard away! I must have had a message from heaven, I guess,
when I did that.... Be sure and make Farmer give you that
certificate.... If there is anything else.... Well, if there is it will have to
wait. I’ll be back just as soon as I can. Don’t worry.”
CHAPTER XXI
AT precisely eight-thirty she turned the key in the side door of the
post-office building, and, hurrying to the sidewalk, almost ran along
it. Twenty minutes later, when she reëntered the yard, she was not
alone. She was shooing before her, as she might have shooed a
stray chicken, a thin young man, who wore eyeglasses and whose
cheeks were ornamented with a pair of sidewhiskers of the kind
much affected at that date by theological students or youths active in
the Y. M. C. A. The irreverent laity called such whiskers “fire
escapes.”
The young man was the Reverend Mr. Barstow and he was the
newly called minister of the Baptist chapel in Harniss. He had lived in
the village less than a month. Consequently his acquaintance in the
community was limited and his awe of the great Foster Townsend
not yet overpowering. Reliance had chosen him with this fact in
mind. Mr. Colton, the big mogul’s own parson, would have found
some excuse for refusing to marry a niece of that mogul to any one,
without being first assured of his patron’s presence or consent. To
suggest that he perform a ceremony uniting her to a grandson of
Elisha Cook would have been like suggesting that he commit
suicide.
But the Reverend Mr. Barstow was not aware that he was being
shooed into danger by the bustling, energetic woman behind him. He
was young and callow and innocent and, although the haste with
which he had been dragged from his study in the parsonage seemed
peculiar, the thought of the fee he was to receive was very pleasing.
It was his first wedding in Harniss. There had been two funerals, but
funerals were not remunerative.
Miss Clark ushered him into the little sitting-room. Bob and Esther
were there. Both were rather pale and nervous, Esther especially so.
Neither had before met the new minister and Reliance performed the
introductions. Then she turned to Griffin.
“Did you get it?” she asked, breathlessly. “Would he give it to you?”
Bob produced from his pocket a folded document.
“I got it, finally,” he said, with a smile. “It took considerable
persuasion and an extra five dollar bill, but here it is.”
Reliance glanced it over. “Seems to be all right,” she observed. “I’ve
never had any experience with such things, but I guess it is.”
“Oh, it is. When I gave him Esther’s name you should have seen his
eyes open. He all but refused then. To hear him talk you would have
thought Captain Townsend was—”
“Sshh!” hastily and with a glance at the minister. “Well then, I guess
we are all ready to go ahead. Where do you want them to stand, Mr.
Barstow? Or had you rather be married in the parlor, Esther?”
Esther shook her head. “No, Auntie,” she said. “I like this room
better. It is more like home than the parlor to me. If Bob—or you—
don’t mind I had rather it were here.”
Bob, of course, did not mind and said so. Reliance glanced about the
apartment.
“Oh, dear!” she sighed. “I wish I had had time to pick up a little and to
get a few flowers—or somethin’. But there! I haven’t had time to get
my breath scarcely, have I? Is everything ready? Then I guess you
can go right ahead, Mr. Barstow.”
The reverend gentleman—he had already examined the marriage
certificate which Griffin handed him—stepped forward. Bob and
Esther stood facing him. Reliance stood further back, in the shadow.
It was, of course, the simplest of ceremonies. And soon over. The
minister’s prayer was longer than all the rest. As he prayed Reliance
stepped back farther and farther from the lamplight. The tears were
streaming down her face, but she wiped them hastily away and at
the “Amen” ran forward, beaming, her hands outstretched. She threw
her arms about the bride’s neck and kissed her.
“The Lord bless you, dear,” she cried. “I hope he’ll bless both of you
always. And I know he will. Young man,” turning to Bob, “I’m goin’ to
kiss you, too. I’m an old maid and, if I can’t go to my own weddin’, I
expect to be kissed at other folks’s.... There!”
Mr. Barstow lingered but a few minutes. To tell the entire truth he
received no pressing invitation to remain. After he had gone
Reliance turned to the wedded pair.
“I don’t want to hurry you a bit,” she said. “Heaven knows I don’t! But
it is almost ten o’clock and—well, if anybody should come here to-
night, they had better not find you. It will be just as easy to explain
after you have gone as before. You know what I mean, of course.”
It was evident that they did. Griffin nodded.
“I am perfectly willing to explain—to Captain Townsend or any one
else,” he said, emphatically. “And so is Esther. We are not ashamed
of what we have done.”
Esther was looking at her aunt. She understood, perhaps even more
clearly than did Bob, the thought in Reliance’s mind. She knew what
sort of scene would follow Foster Townsend’s arrival.
“Oh, Auntie,” she cried, distressfully, “this is terrible for you. If we go
away before—before he comes—you will have to tell him, and he will
blame you, and—and— No, I can’t let you. I won’t. Bob and I will
stay—and wait.”
Reliance shook her head. “Indeed you will not wait,” she declared.
“There is nothing to be gained by it. What is done is done, and
nobody,” with a momentary smile, “even the great Panjamdrum of
this part of creation can change it.... Besides,” she added, with a
sudden shake in her voice, “I want somethin’ pleasant to remember
when I think of this evenin’. I have seen you married, Esther, and I
want to see you and—how queer it seems to say that—your
husband leave this house happy. I don’t want to remember your
leavin’ it in the middle of a fight. Don’t worry about me. The letter you
have written your uncle will tell him almost everything and I shall tell
him the rest.... There! Now you must go. Bob, go out and get your
horse and buggy.”
Bob went. When he reëntered the sitting-room, he found that Miss
Clark had cleared a space on the center table and had placed
thereon three plates, three glasses of milk, and a chocolate cake.
“I almost forgot that you two hadn’t had a mouthful to eat since
dinner,” she explained. “I haven’t either, but I’d forgotten that, too. I
only wish I could offer you somethin’ worth while, but I haven’t got it
and there isn’t time, anyway. I baked this cake yesterday. It is a real
nice receipt, but I was in a hurry and it fell in the bakin’. I’m ashamed
to give it to you, but it’s somethin’, anyhow.... Oh, I know you don’t
feel like eatin’. Neither do I, so far as that goes. But I’ll eat a piece of
your weddin’ cake if I choke with every swallow. So must you.
Please!”
So they ate a little of the cake and drank the milk. Then Reliance
shooed them, as she had shooed the Reverend Barstow, out to the
buggy which Bob had brought to the door. He shook hands with her.
“I can’t thank you for what you have done, Miss Clark,” he began,
“but—”
She interrupted. “You can stop callin’ me Miss Clark,” she declared.
“That’s one thing you can do. I’m your Aunt Reliance now, same as I
am Esther’s, and I shan’t let you forget it. Take good care of her,
won’t you? She’s a precious girl and you are a lucky young man.”
The parting with Esther was harder for them both. Reliance tried her
best to make it cheerful.
“There, there, dearie,” she said, as Esther sobbed on her shoulder,
“don’t cry—don’t cry. You have done the right thing, you’ve got a
good husband and I know you are goin’ to be happy. Write to me
often, won’t you? Just as soon as you get to Boston and again as
soon as you know what your plans are. And be sure and tell me
where to write you.... Now don’t cry any more.”
Bob helped his wife into the buggy. From its seat she leaned down
for a final word.
“Auntie,” she begged, “you will tell Uncle Foster why I did this, won’t
you? You will tell him I do love him and—”
“Yes, yes. I’ll tell him everything. And I’ll see that he gets your
letter.... Good-by. God bless you both.... Be sure and write me to-
morrow from Boston.... Good-by.”
The buggy rolled out of the yard. She stood there, looking and
listening. She heard Bob get down, open the big gate, close it behind
the carriage. Then the sound of the horse’s hoofs moved off up the
road.
Reliance waited until the sound died away. Then she turned and
reëntered the sitting-room. Sitting down in the rocker, she laid her
arms upon the center table, beside the empty glasses and the plate
of cake, dropped her head upon them—and wept.
CHAPTER XXII
SHE did not sit there long. For a few minutes only she permitted
herself the luxury of tears. Then she rose, cleared away the remains
of the impromptu wedding feast, hastened out to the kitchen, bathed
her face in the cold water from the pump, dried it on the roller towel,
patted her hair into place, and returned to the sitting-room. There
was another interview in store for her that night, she was sure of it,
and it was likely to be the hardest trial of all. She must be ready. So
she sat down again in the rocker and tried to plan exactly what she
should say to Foster Townsend when he came, demanding his
niece.
She had been sitting there for perhaps twenty minutes when she
heard his step upon the walk. She did not wait for him to knock, but
opened the door at once.
“Come in, Foster,” she said.
He did not bid her good evening, nor did he speak until he had
crossed the threshold. He glanced about him, strode to the door of
the room adjoining, looked in there, and turned back.
“Where is she?” he asked, sharply.
Reliance faced him bravely.
“She isn’t here, Foster,” she replied.
“Bosh! Of course she is here. Come, come! don’t fool with me.
Where is she?”
“I am not fooling, Foster. Esther isn’t here. She has been here, but
she has gone.”
He stared at her. The expression upon her face caught and held his
attention. He took a step toward her.
“Gone!” he repeated. “Gone where?... What do you mean?”
“I am goin’ to tell you what I mean. There is a lot to tell. Foster, I—
Oh, dear!” desperately, “I don’t know where to begin. This is harder
even than I thought it was goin’ to be. Foster, you must be patient.”
She had frightened him now. She heard him catch his breath.
“What is the matter with you?” he demanded. “What—!” Then his
tone changed. He leaned toward her, his hand upon the center table.
“Say, Reliance,” he whispered, anxiously, “you are fooling, aren’t
you? She is in this house, isn’t she? Look here, if she is hiding from
me—if she has got the idea that I am mad with her or anything like
that—why, she needn’t be. We had a row, she and I, up at the house
this noon; maybe she told you about it, I don’t know. Well, that’s all
right. I— Here! Why do you keep looking at me like that?... What is
that thing?”
Reliance was proffering him an envelope which she had taken from
the bosom of her dress. He gazed at it, then snatched it from her
hand.
“Eh?” he gasped. “It’s from her, isn’t it? What is she writing me letters
for?... Good God, woman, what has happened? Where is she? Why
don’t you tell me?”
Reliance shook her head.
“Read your letter first,” she said. “It will tell you almost everything
and I will try and tell you the rest.... Oh, Foster,” in an irrepressible
burst of agonized sympathy. “I am so sorry for you.”
She did not wait to see him open the envelope, but ran into the
kitchen and closed the door behind her. She remained there for
perhaps ten minutes, it seemed much longer to her. When she
reëntered the sitting-room he was seated in the rocker, the letter
which Esther had written him dangling in his limp fingers, and upon
his face a look which wrung her heartstrings. She came toward him
and laid her hand upon his shoulder.
“I am so sorry for you, Foster,” she said again.
He scarcely seemed to notice her presence. He did not speak.
“You have read the letter?” she faltered, after a moment.
He heard her then and straightened in the chair.
“I have read it,” he muttered. “Yes, I’ve read it.”
“Well—you see? It is done now and we can’t change it. So—”
He threw her hand from his shoulder and rose to his feet, crumpling
the letter in his fist as he did so. He snatched his hat from the floor
where it had fallen.
“Change it!” he growled, between his teeth. “We’ll see whether we
can change it or not. If that low-lived son of a skunk thinks he has
got me licked I’ll show him he is mistaken. He has made a fool of her
with his slick tongue, but he hasn’t married her yet, and it’s a long
time between now and morning.... Get out of my way!”
He would have pushed her aside but she clung to his arm.
“Wait—wait!” she begged. “You must wait. You don’t understand. He
has married her. They were married an hour ago. She is his wife.”
He stopped short. She still clung to him, but, as he made no move to
go, she loosed her hold. When she looked up into his face she was
shocked and alarmed.
“Foster—Foster!” she urged. “Please—please! Come and sit down.
Let me tell you all about it. There is so much to tell. You can’t do
anything. It is too late. No one could have stopped it. I tried my best,
but— Oh, please sit down and listen!”
She led him toward the chair. He sat and, bending forward, leaned
his head upon his hands.
“Go ahead,” he groaned. “I’m listening.”
She told him the whole story, beginning with her learning from Millard
of his experience the night of the accident, of her early morning call
upon the Campton girl, of her long talk with Esther, at the big house
and afterward there at the cottage. Then she went on to tell how
Esther and Bob Griffin had come to say good-by, how she had
argued and pleaded to shake their determination to go away
together that very night. Then of the marriage.
“What could I do?” she pleaded, desperately. “They wouldn’t listen.
They would go. There was only one thing I saw that must be done
and I did it. I saw them married, legally married by a Harniss minister
right in this very room. We’ve got that to be thankful for—and it’s a
lot. There can’t be any gossip started, for I can nail it before it starts.
Foster, as I see it, all you can do—all any of us can do—is make the
best of it. Tell the whole town you think it is all right, even if you are
sure it is all wrong. And it isn’t all wrong. It is terribly hard for you to
give her up to somebody else, but you would have had to do it
sometime. And she has got a good husband; as sure as I stand here
I do believe that.”
She finished. Still he sat there, his head upon his hands. She
ventured once more to put her hand upon his shoulder.
“If you knew how I have been dreadin’ your comin’ here to-night,”
she said, wearily. “If you only knew! If only somebody else could
have told you. But there wasn’t any one else; I had to do it. You poor
man! I—I— Oh, dear! What a world this is! Foster, you will believe I
am sorry, won’t you?”
He drew a deep breath. Then, placing his hands upon the chair arm,
he slowly lifted his big body and stood erect. His face was haggard,
his eyes heavy, he looked, so she thought, as if he had been through
a long sickness. And the tone in which he spoke was hollowed and,
at first, listless.
“Sorry!” he repeated. “Sorry! Humph!... Yes, I guess so. You are
sorry and so is she—she says so in her letter. I suppose that
damned cub she has run away with is sorry, too. Yes, you are all
sorry, but not so sorry but what you could do the thing, play the dirty
trick you meant to play all along.... All right! All right!” with sudden
savageness. “She will be sorrier by and by. Let her go to the devil.
She has started that way already. Let her go. And you, and the gang
who will come tiptoeing around to-morrow telling me how sorry they
are, may go with her.... Well, you have said all you wanted to,
haven’t you? I can go home now, I suppose—eh?”
She stepped back. “Yes,” she agreed, sadly. “I guess you can, if you
want to. I was afraid you would take it this way; it is natural you
should, I guess. I hope, though, by and by, when you have had time
to think it all over, you may be a little more reconciled and, maybe,
not quite so bitter. What has happened isn’t really any one’s fault.
You must see that; you will by and by. You couldn’t have stopped it; I
couldn’t; nobody could. It just happened, same as lots of things
happen to us poor humans. Whether we like ’em or not doesn’t seem
to make a bit of difference. They happen, just the same.”
He turned on her, looked her over from head to foot. “Good Lord
A’mighty!” he sneered. “Good Lord! I have lived a good many years
and I thought I had run afoul of about every kind of cussedness there
was, but this beats ’em all. Isn’t there any limit? Wasn’t it bad enough
to play the hypocrite when there was something to be gained by it,
when it helped me to keep my eyes shut to what was going on
behind my back? Wasn’t that enough, without playing it now?
Nobody’s fault! Huh! It was somebody’s fault—oh, yes! It was mine
for being such a blind, innocent jackass as to trust her—and you. Ah-
h!... There, that is enough.”
It was more than enough, it was a little too much. Reliance stepped
between him and the door.
“Foster Townsend,” she cried, “you shan’t go until you take that back,
or at least hear what I have to say about it. You know I’m not a
hypocrite. That is one thing I never have been. And, since you said it
yourself first, you are right, partly right, when you say it was your
fault. If you hadn’t been just what you always have been, so set on
drivin’ everybody along the road you wanted ’em to travel, you and
Esther might not have come to this pass. You couldn’t have stopped
her marryin’ the Griffin boy—I don’t believe all creation could have
done that—but you might have held it off for a while, and saved all
this dreadful business. You couldn’t drive her. Every time you tried it
you got into trouble. And now this! She is a Townsend, just as you
are yourself.”
“Townsend! Bah! She is a Clark, that’s what she is. Her father was a
Townsend and he was a soft-headed fool; but he wasn’t a hypocrite.
She’s a Clark, that’s where the hypocrisy comes from.”
“Stop! You shan’t say that! There wasn’t any hypocrisy at all, on my
part or hers. You know it. I have been honest with you from the very
beginnin’. That day, years ago, when she went to live with you, I
warned you to be careful. I knew you, and I knew her, and I warned
you that you couldn’t force her to draw her every breath just at the
second when you told her to. I had seen you drive and drive her poor
father, and I saw that road end in smash, just as this one has ended.
And you mustn’t call her a hypocrite, either. She has been honest
with you always—except perhaps for those few days when she let
Bob Griffin paint her picture without tellin’ you about it. But have you
played straight and aboveboard with her? You can answer that
yourself, but I tell you she doesn’t think you have. And I tell you the
plain truth when I say that nobody, short of the Almighty himself,
could have stopped what has happened to-night. You be thankful it
happened as it did—here in this house, with a friend—yes, a good
friend, and there’s no hypocrisy about that either—to see it done and
keep every mean mouth in Harniss shut tight. You can be thankful
for that, Foster Townsend, I give you my word I am.”
He was standing there, his hand upon the latch. Now, as she
paused, breathless, the fires of righteous indignation still burning in
her eyes, he carried that hand to his face. A sob shook him.
“Oh, don’t!” he groaned. “For God’s sake, don’t! Let me out of here!
Let me get away—somewhere.”
And then, of all inopportune times, Fate chose that moment to bring
Millard Fillmore Clark upon the scene. The door opened and he
came into the room. He looked at his sister, then at her visitor. His
backbone suppled; his hat was removed with a flourish.
“Well, well!” he exclaimed, in polite surprise. “It is you, ain’t it, Cap’n
Foster. How do you do, sir?” Then, as the possibilities of the situation
crossed his mind, he added, a little more anxiously: “You and
Reliance been havin’ a little talk about—about what you and me
talked about yesterday? I—I thought it was best to tell her, you
understand.”
He might have said more, probably would had the opportunity been
given him. It was not. Foster Townsend’s big hand shot forward,
seized him by the shoulder and threw him headlong from the
doorway. He spun across the room, tripped over the hassock, and
fell sprawling. Before he could rise, or even understand what had
happened to him, Townsend had gone.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE letter for which Reliance had so anxiously waited came in the
evening mail next day. Esther had written it from Boston. She had
spent the night at the house of Bob’s cousin in South Denboro, and
she and her husband had taken the early train from that station, as
they had planned. They were going at once to the steamship office
to see what arrangements could be made for their passage to
Europe. She would write again as soon as those arrangements were
made. Bob had broken the news to his grandfather and there had
been another distressing scene.
“It is all so dreadful,” wrote Esther, “that I don’t want to think about it
now. Poor Bob! And poor Mr. Cook! And Uncle Foster! And you,
Auntie! I feel as if I must be a wicked, ungrateful girl. He says I am
not and that we have done the only thing that could be done. He is a
dear fellow and I love him. He is sure we will never be sorry and that
by and by everything will be right again. Oh, I hope so!... You will tell
Uncle Foster how sorry I was to leave him, won’t you? Make him
understand just why I had to do it, Aunt Reliance. And then write me
what he says. I will write him as soon as I hear from you that he
cares to have me write. Do you think he will ever forgive me?”
Reliance felt no certainty on this point. She had not seen Foster
Townsend that day. Nor had she heard from him. Varunas came for
the mail, as usual, but he had nothing to tell. “The old man is glum as
an oyster,” he said. “Ain’t hardly spoke a word all day and Nabby
she’s scared he’s goin’ to be sick or somethin’. Say, where’s Esther
gone? I thought likely she was down here to your house, Reliance,
but Millard says she ain’t. He’s struck dumb, too, seems so. What’s
the matter with all hands?”
His question was answered next morning. Where, or from where, the
amazing rumor first came is uncertain. Whether the Reverend Mr.
Barstow told of the marriage ceremony, or Ezra Farmer told of
issuing the certificate—whether the news was first made public in
Denboro, or South Denboro, or there in Harniss, is still but a guess.
And very few guessed or tried. The essential fact was all that
mattered. Within a dozen hours the whole county buzzed. The great
Foster Townsend’s niece had married the grandson of the almost as
famous Elisha Cook. They were married and had run away together
to Boston—to Chicago—to Europe—to nobody knew for certain
where. Mrs. Benjamin Snow said, “Heavens and earth!” when she
heard it. Mrs. Tobias Eldridge said, “My good land of love!” Every
one said something and followed it with: “What will Foster Townsend
do? Has anybody seen him since it happened?”
No one had, for he had kept out of their way. The few who called at
the mansion—Mr. Colton, Captain Ben Snow, and others who had a
claim to close acquaintanceship—were told by the maid or Nabby
Gifford that he was busy with “law papers” and could not see
anybody. Reliance Clark was the next best bet and they hurried to
the post office. Reliance was quite willing to talk, up to a certain
point. Yes, it was true. Esther Townsend was now Mrs. Robert
Griffin. They had been married in her sitting-room by the Baptist
minister and she was present at the wedding. Why the haste? Was it
true that they had run off? Did Foster Townsend know of it before it
happened? Where were they now? All these queries she parried or
answered non-committally. To too-persistent questioners, of a certain
type, she replied in another fashion. “If you are so terribly anxious to
know how Cap’n Townsend takes it,” she observed, “why don’t you
go and ask him? Bob and Esther are married. That much I do know.
And you can advertise it to all creation.”
This was so far the greatest sensation of a sensational season.
Following so closely upon the accident to Seymour Covell it drove
even that and its trail of gossip and surmise from the public mind.
The whisperings concerning Bob Griffin’s part in that accident, or his
responsibility for it, were forgotten. Covell, in the Boston hospital,
was reported to have regained consciousness and to be on the road
to recovery. The question of what he was doing on the lower road—
of who saw him and Griffin there, if indeed any one saw them—
ceased to be debated. Carrie Campton and her parents began to
breathe more easily. So did Millard Clark, although breathing was
practically the only luxury his sister permitted him to indulge in just
then. Millard’s position was hard indeed. To be an inmate of the very
house in which the amazing marriage had taken place, to be as
wildly excited concerning it as every one else, and to be ordered to
hush, or be still, or to mind his own business whenever he dared
venture to hint a request for inside information, was torture indeed
for Mr. Clark. And, worst of all, his orders—orders which, in fear of
Foster Townsend and his sister, he did not dare disobey—were to
say that he knew nothing and keep on saying it. “It is the truth,”
declared Reliance. “You don’t know anything and, so far as I am
concerned, you never will. And, if my shoulder was as lame as yours
is, I don’t think I should run the risk of doin’ anything likely to bring
Cap’n Foster down on me again. He might break your neck next
time.”
Many pairs of eyes were on the watch for the first public appearance
of the big mogul. He would have to show himself sometime and
when he did—how would he look and act? What would he have to
say? They knew already what Elisha Cook was saying. According to
Denboro reports he declared himself to be through with his grandson
for good and all. “He is a fool, let him go his fool way. I’m done with
him.” This, according to gossip, was the proclamation from Cook
headquarters. And the Denboro doctor was reported to have added
that the old man’s sole comfort in the situation was the thought of
Foster Townsend’s fury. “I only wish I was where I could see him
squirm,” chuckled Elisha.
So all Harniss was agog, and rushed excitedly to its windows when,
two days after the elopement, the Townsend span was again seen
trotting majestically along the main road. Varunas, of course, was
driving and his employer sat alone upon the rear seat of the carriage.
He looked heavy-eyed and drawn and tired, that was the consensus
of opinion, but to the bows and hat lifting of those he passed his own
bow was as coolly dignified as ever. It was noon—mail time—and
the group at the post office watched, with bated breath, as he
alighted and walked into the building.
Tobias Eldridge told it all to his wife when he reached home.
“Everybody just stood around, or set on the settee, and looked at
him when he come in,” narrated Tobias. “We didn’t none of us hardly
dast to speak, or so much as say, ‘How are you, Cap’n Foster?’
Didn’t know how he’d take it, you understand. But he was just same
as ever, seemed so. Just as grand and top lofty and off-hand to us
bugs and worms under his feet as if nothin’ had happened. When
somebody—Nathan Doane, seems to me ’twas—spunked up
enough to say ‘Good day,’ he nodded his head and says ‘Good day’
back. Course he must know that every man, woman and child old
enough to talk has been talkin’ about nothing but him and his family
for two days and nights. You’d think he’d realize it and act sort of—
well, fussed and ashamed, but not him, no sir! Darned if it wasn’t
kind of disappointin’! Yes, ’twas so.
“And,” went on Mr. Eldridge, “when he went up to the window after
his mail and Reliance Clark handed it out to him, we was all set to
see how he’d act to her. ’Twas in her house them two was married
and we didn’t know but he’d tell her what he thought of her right
there and then. And what happened? Nothin’!” in high disgust.
“Nothin’ at all! ‘Good mornin’, Foster,’ says she, not lookin’ even so
much as nervous. ‘Mornin’, Reliance,’ he says; grunted it just same
as he’s grunted good mornin’ to her for two year. And that’s all there
was to it. Can you beat that? I don’t know how you’re goin’ to.”
It was an attitude that could not be beaten and reluctantly Harniss
was forced to that realization. At home, when the inevitable callers
came, eager to learn details, ready to offer sympathy and express
indignation at Esther’s wickedness, it was just the same. Foster
Townsend flatly refused to discuss the subject. The Reverend Mr.
Colton ventured to persist a trifle more than the rest.
“Of course, Captain Townsend,” he said, sadly, “we all know the
burden you are bearing. If you knew—I shall be glad to tell you if you
wish to hear—the expressions of sympathy for you which are poured
into my ears, they might perhaps comfort you a little. And the poor,
misguided girl! Ungrateful—yes. But—”
Townsend, who was standing by the chair in the library, a cigar in
one hand and a match in the other, swung about.

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This chapter is designed to help you

䉴 CAUSES OF DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS

The Role of the Home

Damage to Self-Concept. The development of self-concept in children begins long

Love Deprivation. Love deprivation is similar to attention deprivation. In fact, children

Pause and Consider.

The Role of Society

designed to protect children from pornography as violating First Amendment rights

they make up an enormous percentage of the poor as well as an increasing proportion

Pause and Consider.

The Role of the School

A number of things can be done to alleviate this problem. Considerable emphasis is

Nonacceptance. Without realizing it, many teachers convey nonacceptance to some of

communication, and by helping students resolve problems and conflicts productively. In

䉴 QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES

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