Part 2 of �Are you a leader?�
PUNISH A BAD RANGER-- WHAT?
By Chaplain Jeff Ortner #446
Rangerstuff.com
Lets start with a simple fact about punishment,
# 1st We as Commanders and leaders don�t and shouldn�t ever have to
punish a child.
#2 Discipline and �punishment� are totally different. So discipline
can be accomplished with much success.
So what can you do when little Ranger Goofy that is always acting up
in class? He is the one that seems like he can�t figure out how to
pass a knife, put up a tent, or become lazy bones at every campout.
How do you get him to step in place with the rest? Does he do
push-ups, time out, sitting out of your class, sent home, sent to the
senior pastor or Commander?
Lets see why a Ranger makes mistakes.
A. It is to get attention.
B. They don�t know how and forgot.
C. They just don�t care.
You as a commander need to find out what needs to be done here. If it
is just that they forgot or don�t know how. You punishing them is
really a big bad mistake. Maybe just a little one-on-one working
with the kid can help and show them what they can do. It could be a
personal problem at home and they are just trying to ask for help in
their own simple way.
Punishment could drive them farther away from you and the outpost.
OK , lets say he is disrespectful, to leaders or adults. Remember
discipline fits the crime.
So put him at the front church door and let him be polite and open
the door for everyone that enters or leaves. If he is rude, give him
a polite job, if he is lazy, give him a hard job, if he is loud, give
him a nonverbal chore, If he will not go to sleep, then give him a
midnight hike or a �VERY� early job to do that morning. Sometimes
there is nothing like spending your free time at a campout having to
scrub pots and pans while everyone else is fishing or swimming.
Either he will begin to understand you have rules to follow and get
with the program or he will just leave it. It becomes his choice to
stay or go. All of these discipline ideas are perfectly within
regulations when working with children.
Now, lets figure out if punishment is a good way to fix the problem.
Ranger Goofy keeps disturbing your class. You stop and make him do
10 push-ups. Then he starts up again. You must realize that
punishment should be the last resort. The whole idea of motivating
your people by threatening them with punishment is just stupid. You
don�t motivate people with punishment, you motivate them with reward.
Nobody ever did their best at something merely to avoid something
unpleasant. When it�s a perform-or-punishment environment, people do
the absolute minimum to get by.
YOU DON�T EVEN TRAIN A DOG THAT WAY!
If you want your people to excel you have to give them something to
work towards: something that�s valuable to them as individuals. It�s
up to you as a leader to find out what that thing is and get them
headed into the right direction. I will end with this last concept,
push-ups, screaming, and bad punishment are nothing but crutches for
�leaders� who are Lazy and unimaginative. It doesn�t take a rocket
scientist to think up a better way to help children and handle
situations. I know there �ARE� exceptions to this rule when children
do get out of control. That is were main leaders, parents and
guardians need to get involved. But you as a leader need to be the
leader within your own classroom and Outpost group.
LEAD BY EXAMPLE RANGERS,
God Bless all of you
_______
"Do to others as you would have them do to you."
-- Luke 6:31 (NIV)
List host: http://eBible.org/mpj/ List info: http://RangerNet.org/faq.htm
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
or visit http://rangernet.org/subscribe.htm
