#011 - Why Punishments Don't Work On Children 🚫👶
In this episode of Neuroeducation with Angie Dee, the host explores the topic of punishments and restorative justice in education. She questions the effectiveness of punitive methods and emphasizes the importance of teaching children valuable lessons instead. Reflecting on both school and home environments, Angie Dee encourages you to consider the long-term impact of punishments on children's behaviour and suggests alternative approaches that promote compassion and growth.
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Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:00:42 - Introducing Restorative Justice
00:01:03 - The Ineffectiveness of Traditional Punishments
00:02:31 - Long-Term Learning and Responsibility
00:03:45 - The Importance of Conscious Response
00:04:07 - Success of Restorative Justice in Schools
00:05:23 - Curriculum Demands and Student Engagement
00:06:06 - Connection and Preventative Measures
00:07:00 - Montessori Approach to Classroom Cohesion
00:07:44 - The Long-Term Benefits of Restorative Justice
00:08:16 - Closing Remarks and Call to Action
Transcript
When we have this kind of punitive form of
Speaker:punishment, what I would ask is what is it
Speaker:teaching children in the long run? Punitive punishment is
Speaker:not the answer because it doesn't teach our
Speaker:children anything. Welcome to Neuroeducation, where
Speaker:we're exploring the neuroscience of how to switch on the brain to
Speaker:supercharge learning. I'll be sharing with you innovative teaching techniques,
Speaker:effective parenting strategies, and educational advocacy. I'm
Speaker:your host, Angie Deeee. Together, let's revolutionize children's
Speaker:learning. Hello
Speaker:and welcome back to Neuroeducation with Angie Dee.
Speaker:Thank you for tuning in for this episode. We're going
Speaker:to be diving in deep to looking at
Speaker:the reality of punishments and restorative
Speaker:justice within education, but this is also something
Speaker:that we can reflect on at home with how
Speaker:we treat our children and what kind of consequences
Speaker:punishments we're giving our own children and
Speaker:what really works in the long term. Traditionally in
Speaker:school we have what you would call a punitive method
Speaker:of punishment. That means if you've done
Speaker:something bad you get punished, you've been naughty,
Speaker:here's your punishment. You get a detention or you get a suspension or
Speaker:you get expulsion if you've done it enough times.
Speaker:But I would ask you to think, what
Speaker:is this teaching our children? If
Speaker:they've done something that's incorrect, if
Speaker:they've misbehaved and you give
Speaker:them a punishment that doesn't fit the crime, they
Speaker:bully somebody, they get a detention. Has
Speaker:the bullying stopped or
Speaker:will it stop? Maybe, maybe not. But has the child learned
Speaker:anything to improve that behaviour? So
Speaker:has they learned something to be, how to be more compassionate, how to relate
Speaker:more empathetically to, let's say if they bully Jessica, have
Speaker:they thought about that more deeply? Have they changed
Speaker:their morals to be kinder to
Speaker:others? So when we have this kind
Speaker:of punitive form of punishment, what
Speaker:I would ask is what is it teaching children in the long run?
Speaker:Is it teaching them to be responsible for their actions? Is
Speaker:it teaching them to make amends? to
Speaker:resolve their problems, to resolve their
Speaker:actions and ideally to reconnect with
Speaker:whoever the person is that they've done it to, to make
Speaker:sure they have made amends for the whole situation. Because
Speaker:ideally that's the kind of skill we want for life. If
Speaker:we fast forward 20 years and they're in a relationship and
Speaker:we have a husband and a wife partnership, what
Speaker:do we want each adult to be able
Speaker:to do in that relationship. If they make a mistake, if they've
Speaker:messed up, if they've done something wrong. We want them to be able to
Speaker:make amends. We want them to be able to talk about it, maybe to
Speaker:say sorry. We want them to have some kind of interception which
Speaker:means understanding what happened, what was going on in their mind, what
Speaker:was going on in their bodies, why did they act like that and
Speaker:how can they make a positive change not to do that in the future. So
Speaker:they're not re-acting negatively but they're responding consciously. If
Speaker:we want that to happen between husbands and wives or
Speaker:in between co-workers, in between adults, we
Speaker:have to coach children how to be able to do that from a young age.
Speaker:Punitive punishment is not the answer because
Speaker:it doesn't teach our children anything. Yes, they get
Speaker:disciplined for something they've done, but it doesn't teach them how
Speaker:not to do it in the future or how to change their behaviour.
Speaker:Restorative justice is the new buzzword in
Speaker:America and it's a buzzword for a big reason. It
Speaker:is working and transforming the lives of
Speaker:parents, teachers, and students in
Speaker:American schools. In one American school
Speaker:where they implemented restorative justice, which means
Speaker:we're going to restore relationships
Speaker:and restore what has gone on to make
Speaker:amends. So where they've implemented restorative
Speaker:justice, they have seen misbehaviour.
Speaker:That means students acting out, and
Speaker:suspensions and expulsions reduce by
Speaker:50%. Now if
Speaker:you could go to any teacher in a primary school or
Speaker:a high school around Australia and you could say I can
Speaker:reduce misbehaviour, suspensions and
Speaker:expulsions by 50% I'm sure
Speaker:they would be all ears. tell me how you're doing it,
Speaker:because it's something we all face. Unfortunately,
Speaker:with the demands of the curriculum, which we can debate later
Speaker:about how appropriate these demands of
Speaker:certain curriculums are in Australia, with the demands of the curriculum
Speaker:and the pressures that teachers face and the pressures students face,
Speaker:They are literally on a steam train going through
Speaker:subject after subject. How engaged are they? How interested
Speaker:are they? How empowered are they in their educational journey?
Speaker:Unfortunately for the teacher and the student, not a lot in
Speaker:our educational structure in Australia. However, this
Speaker:is something all teachers and even
Speaker:parents at home can do to improve
Speaker:student behaviour. And that is called connection.
Speaker:Restorative justice is about preventative first. So
Speaker:we're preventing the behaviour by connecting with a student. And
Speaker:if you think about this, if there's a teacher that
Speaker:you really like, how often did you
Speaker:misbehave for that teacher? Very rarely.
Speaker:If there's a teacher you didn't like, how often did
Speaker:you misbehave for that teacher? In Montessori,
Speaker:The first few weeks of any schooling year
Speaker:is really about bringing the students and the teachers together
Speaker:and making sure there's a cohesive classroom environment.
Speaker:So just like when you get to finally go on a school camp
Speaker:and they play all these team games, This is
Speaker:what is done at the beginning of every school year in Montessori and
Speaker:I feel like if teachers invest more
Speaker:time at the beginning of the school year, yes demands
Speaker:aside, into allowing children to
Speaker:build those relationships in the classroom and consciously building
Speaker:those relationships with their students then
Speaker:what we see is better and better behaviour. And the restorative justice
Speaker:and the research on it in America is so clear.
Speaker:It works. Yes, it takes time. It's
Speaker:not a one stop shop. It's going to be fixed in a minute. It
Speaker:takes time, but it works. It's an approach that
Speaker:works for the long term. And
Speaker:if you want a positive classroom environment, if
Speaker:you want your children to feel connected and
Speaker:to be working positively
Speaker:with you and with others around you for not
Speaker:just fear of punishment but for the joy of
Speaker:connection then this is something you
Speaker:want to be able to implement and research more on. Restorative
Speaker:justice, it's a buzzword and that's just
Speaker:because it works. Thank you for tuning in
Speaker:to this podcast. Do us a massive favor.
Speaker:It really helps the podcast if you leave us a five star review on
Speaker:Apple podcasts or on Spotify and please
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Speaker:for all the information that you need from Angie
