Earlier this week, I had a lesson where a regularly disruptive student, who I get on with pretty well, was struggling to manage himself. I am confident his intentions are never to be disruptive but old habits die hard.
After a couple of interactions regarding disruptive behaviour, I realised he was only able to control himself for about two minutes at a time on this day. Realising it was beyond his control, and having seen him react poorly to consequences many times before - often escalating negative behaviour and disrupting further - I gave him the opportunity to go outside for a while with no consequences.
For other students, they usually respond to correction or warnings about consequences. For this student the same correction or warnings result in a downward spiral of failing to control himself.
As a part of showing love toward my students and modelling the character of Jesus, it is important to consider what response will get the best out of my students. Seeing how this student was acting, I made the decision that what was best for him and the class as a whole (regarding learning and growth in discipleship relationships) was to remove him from the class. This removed the disruption from class and the majority could continue learning.
For the individual removed, the best outcome was to frustrate him the least possible. It was clear that he would not get any work done, so it was better to have him remain in a positive mood and maintain a positive relationship for future discipleship. The alternative would have been to get no work done for many more students and him be in a negative mood.
Other students can get upset at what they see as unfair treatment, i.e. different consequences for them compared to him if they do the same thing. I always explain to them that they are capable of more in certain areas, so they need to use their God-given ability as best they can. God treats each of us differently, giving different people abilities in different areas and we don’t have the right to question Him about this. Our different strengths and weaknesses are not cause for complaints but for helping one another where we are weak. This is the body of Christ in action.
I am sure this young man, who professes faith in Jesus, will use his strengths to help God’s people and to build the Kingdom of Heaven in a unique way. Bearing this in mind makes it easier to treat someone with kindness when they might get kicked out of another school.
Trusting God for Him to make all things work for the good of His people also takes the pressure off me having to do everything exactly right. If I judged the situation wrong and the student was talking advantage of my kindness, I still know that God will use that. Better to err on the side of caution.
