Why Predictable Consequences Matter for Both Perpetrators and Victims
In this video, Dr. Justin Baeder explains why predictable consequences serve both the student who misbehaves and the students who are harmed.
Key Takeaways
- Perpetrators need to know what's coming - Clear consequences deter misbehavior by removing uncertainty
- Victims need to know they'll be protected - When consequences are predictable, victims trust that the system will respond
- Predictability is fairness - Everyone in the school community benefits from knowing that rules are enforced consistently
Transcript
Why are predictable consequences so important for schools?
One reason I'm a big fan of discipline matrixes that show a progressive series of consequences for repeated or escalating misbehavior is that they create a sense of predictability.
And it's really puzzling to me that a lot of schools today are creating a sense of unpredictability by really having no guarantees about what's going to happen for a given behavior.
And that unpredictability affects both the perpetrators and the victims of a harmful behavior like violence in schools.
It affects the perpetrators in the sense that it really encourages them to take their chances, right?
If you don't know what's gonna happen, you're not sure if you're gonna get in trouble, Well, why not do whatever you feel like you're going to do?
Why bother exercising self-control if probably nothing bad is going to happen to you, you know, or if it at least feels worth taking your chances and seeing what happens?
On the victim's side, it's also terrible to not have that sense of predictability because that means you never know if you're safe, right?
And Really, of course, we never know if we're safe in life.
You know, something bad could happen at any given time to any of us.
But within schools, the way we ensure safety is in a procedural way, right?
Like, we guarantee that if something happens, we're going to do something about it to make sure that it doesn't happen again.
If you get punched by somebody, that person's going to get in trouble so that they don't do that again.
And if they do do it again, they're going to get in more trouble.
And that's the essential idea of progressive discipline.
When we take that away and say, well, we feel kind of squeamish about these consequences and we don't want to put this puncher on a bad path in life, never mind that they're punching people, we eliminate that sense of predictability that creates the sense of safety, the psychological safety for everyone else.
And I think especially for students who have already experienced trauma, especially for teachers who have already been victimized, perhaps in their personal lives, that lack of predictability is really a total deal breaker.
Like it is just so destructive.
So I'm a big fan of progressive discipline and consequences.
Let me know what you think about the discipline matrix that's in place in your school.
Is it being followed?
Is it effective?
Let me know what you think.