On Managing Misbehavior: My Experience

The majority of my experience managing misbehavior has come from spending 12 months working at an alternative school for youth with behavioral and mental health disorders. The school was located on the campus of a residential child care facility. Since then I have spent several years coaching high school soccer both at the varsity and junior varsity levels, however we will mainly focus on my experience as an "Educational Treatment Specialist" or ETS.

This was my job title at the school and my main responsibilities were to assist teachers and administrators with dealing with problem behaviors. As part of pre-service training, I was certified in Therapeutic Crisis Intervention or TCI. TCI includes physical restraint techniques, designed to control acute physical behavior on the part of a child. The goal of TCI is to help the child regain self-control and to teach the child better ways of coping with difficult situations and uncomfortable, painful feelings. This was perhaps the toughest part of the job for me emotionally. No one wants to have to lay hands on a child, especially when you know they are hurting. However, it was a necessary part of the job and it was done solely to ensure the safety of all students and staff at the facility.

The majority of students at the school were diagnosed with oppositional defiant or conduct disorders, while some had been diagnosed with ADHD or some mood disorder such as depression, bipolar, dysthmia and cyclothymia. This may all sound intimidating or frightening, which it was at the time. I had little experience working with youth and up to this point I was still considering going back to school to become a licensed counselor (my bachelor's is in psychology). But looking back, this would prove to be the most challenging and rewarding experience of my life. Since the day I walked into the school I have known that I wanted to work with youth and teach and mentor, and I have never looked back since.