Y.E.S.S. Program aids disruptive children in local school districts
By Christie Succop, Copy Editor
March 20, 2008 | 6 a.m.
A gym teacher at Central Primary Elementary School in Logan, Ohio, sent Johnny to the principal’s office during gym class. Johnny and Mark, students in Ethel Spencer’s second-grade class, were playing around with their hula hoops, presumably when they were not supposed to be. The gym teacher asked the boys to sit out for misbehaving.
Because Mark was sitting quietly, the gym teacher asked him to rejoin the class. Johnny, however, was not asked to return – he was mouthing off and complaining to the gym teacher.
Johnny is a student in the Youth Experiencing Success in Schools (Y.E.S.S.) Program, a school-based program using positive methods to lessen behavioral problems in students.
Teachers recommend students to the Y.E.S.S. Program when they notice consistent, disruptive behavior, such as problems keeping their hands to themselves, blurting out answers and constantly being redirected back to work.
Dr. Julie Owens, a clinical psychology professor at Ohio University, founded the Y.E.S.S. Program because of her interest in research.
“I wanted to see if evidence-based treatments worked when instilled in natural environments,” Dr. Owens said.
Dr. Owens said she also created the program because children in rural areas do not usually have access to mental health facilities.
Positive praise
Erin Girio, an OU graduate student in clinical child psychology, is a facilitator for the Y.E.S.S. Program. Facilitators guide parents and teachers through the entire process of the program.
Facilitators teach parents how to maintain effective timeouts, how to use and to interpret the Daily Report Card, how to reward a child and how to be positive about a child’s behavior.
Girio is the mediator between parents and teachers. She works with parents, teachers and students to make sure they are all on the same page with their instructions for the program.
Although facilitators maintain most of the communication with parents, teachers can express praise or concern through a child’s Daily Report Card. The Daily Report Card lists three goals a student needs to accomplish each day, and the goals are the three most important behaviors the teacher and student have agreed to try to improve.
Teachers observe the students during class and positively praise them when they display good behavior.
“You always celebrate any successes,” Girio said. “If they’re sitting down with their feet on the floor [and not fidgeting], you tell them, ‘Good job for having your feet where they’re supposed to be!’”
It takes two to tango
“The program focuses mainly on parents and teachers because they’re the ones who can help the children the most,” Dr. Owens said.
Parents need to maintain structured environments at home, and teachers need to emphasize the rules and guidelines at school in order for the disruptive children to improve their behavior.
The program works best when a teacher enforces rules and consequences in school, and those rules and consequences are reinforced at home. This helps children practice the desired behavior outside of the school environment.
Children establish their rules and consequences with their teachers on the first day of school.
“I guide them toward what [behaviors] I want [to change],” second-grade teacher Ethel Spencer said.
A rule for a child might be for him or her to not leave his or her seat more than five times in one day. A consequence might be no dessert after dinner or reduced television viewing. Ultimately, the rules and consequences are the child’s decision.
“I don’t add or take away rules without the child’s permission,” Spencer said.
Parents are an influential part of the equation as well. “Parent permission is essential, and [parent] involvement is very important,” said Jacqui Griffeth, a school counselor and Y.E.S.S. Program facilitator in the Logan-Hocking School System.
The program extends outside of the classroom, so parents who do not reward their child or maintain the guidelines of the program are not contributing to the improvement of their child’s behavior.
A sweet deal
Parents reward children for positive behavior. If a child brings home a good Daily Report Card, parents permit him or her to choose a reward from a reward menu. Rewards range from 15 minutes of computer time to choosing what to eat for dinner or dessert to playing a favorite game with the family.
“Parent time is the most effective reward,” said Debbie Mohney, a first-grade teacher involved with the Y.E.S.S. Program at Union Furnace Elementary School in Union Furnace, Ohio.
Overall, students’ behavior generally improves, Mohney said.
“With less class interruptions, there’s more time to go on with the lesson,” Spencer said.
Johnny has the rest of the school year to work on his disruptive behavior. The best treatment for his “annoying” outbursts is probably spending quality time with his teachers and parents.
“The kids just want somebody to talk to them,” Mohney said.
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