Boosting better behavior: Schools rewarding the good in hopes of staving off the bad

A cluster of Utah schools thinks it has found a way to change the way students behave and, in turn, improve academics, prevent bullying and possibly stave off the kind of violence seen in last week's deadly Minnesota school shooting.

The Utah Behavior Initiatives Project, implemented in 42 schools and grounded in research, aims to prevent bad behavior by teaching, demonstrating and rewarding the good. Schools track data, keep what works and throw out what doesn't.

It sounds pretty basic: Reinforce the behavior you want to see.

But schools often focus on disciplining students who get out of line — something some educators say is far easier than teaching a teenager what it means to be respectful, when his daily interaction is anything but.

"There's a higher percentage of kids who are coming to school that do not have appropriate behavior. Kids come to school and their natural way of . . . getting along with friends on the playground is actually bullying," said Mark Daines, principal of Park Elementary School in Cache County.

"So we find some kids don't want to go to recess because they're being bullied, being hurt emotionally, because other kids are bullying them with insensitive comments . . . not necessarily directed in a mean way, but that's the way society allows them to respond in today's world."

Student misbehavior has been an issue for years, said Pat Rusk, president of the 18,000-teacher Utah Education Association. And a few students are exhibiting violent tendencies.

This school year, a Granger High student was arrested and accused of having a "hit list"; a Northridge High student allegedly brought a gun to school; and four Uintah High students were charged in an alleged school bomb plot. Just last week, a girl attending Canyon View High School in Cedar City was arrested after a threatening note was found.

Earlier in the week, a student on a Minnesota Indian reservation shot and killed his grandfather and a female companion, five classmates, a teacher and a guard and injured others before turning the gun on himself. The boy, who reportedly smiled and waved as he gunned down victims, was described in media reports as a loner often teased by others.

The situation is reminiscent of other school shootings nationwide. And concerns over bullying are growing.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington this month ordered a statewide report on bullying, what schools are doing to address it, and recommendations to make things better. The report will be issued at the May State Board of Education meeting.

"We're anxious, of course, that we ensure the safety of all children on our campuses," Harrington said.