By Scott Ervin - The kid whisperer

Source - Omaha World Herald

Saturday March 14, 2026

The failure of colleges of education to teach behavior management is creating PK-12 schools that, through no fault of their own, are in chaos. This chaos is leading to schools churning out anti-social people.

Something must be done, and it must be done right now. Behavior management isn't something that you can just know about, it's something you have to be able to do. Teaching is a complicated and difficult profession, but proper behavior management should be seen as more of a trade. Carpentry might be a good analogy. You can't just know about building a table.

To build a table, you must train under a master carpenter who has built many excellent tables.

The carpenter shows you the specific and correct ways to build a table, you practice and hone your craft under their tutelage, and eventually you can build a table.

You would not want to learn how to build a table from someone who has merely written a research paper on the effects that nails and screws have on wood, and then have that researcher say to you, "Good luck building a table! You'll figure it out!"

And yet, that's what we do to teachers when we fail to teach them behavior management in college. Every teacher knows this, and nothing is being done to correct this problem, even though any teacher can tell you that behavior management is the single most important element necessary to teach kids.

To fill this void created by colleges of education, schools have been given the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, or PBIS, framework. It is not a program, just a vehicle with the potential for being a fantastic tool for educators to build positive school environments for kids.

Put in the simplest terms, PBIS calls for educators to make sure students who meet expectations get things that other students don't get. That's great, because that's how life works: People who do the right thing, work hard, treat people well and follow the rules do get things that others don't get.

However, that "thing" should not be a reward in the form of a tangible object such as a sticker, a toy or a ticket to be turned in later to get stickers or toys, because that's not how life works.

Giving these rewards is logistically difficult, expensive for the teacher and insulting for the kid. It also goes against the moral code of a vast majority of teachers. Most teachers believe
that kids should not be given tangible prizes for acting like decent people. In addition, it is nearly impossible to hand out enough rewards to create enough reinforcement to correct serious or extremely chronic negative behaviors. Unfortunately, even though most proponents of the PBIS framework (myself included) do not want it to be used this way, this is how PBIS is used in a vast majority of schools and classrooms.

But it doesn't need to be.
Yes, kids meeting expectations need to get things that others don't get, but it should not be a tangible reward. They need to "get" what we all get when we do good things: a better life.

The way to do this is for schools to create a constant reality where kids get recognition for positive actions, a feeling of control over their environment and avoidance of situations they don't like. This will vary by grade level, and this list could be nearly endless, but when kids meet expectations, they need to "get":

• To line up first.
• To eat lunch first.
• To have extra time to
• To go to recess first.
• To control where they sit.
• To control who they work
• Verbal recognition (noticed, not praised) at least 100 times per day.
• Cooljobs.
• Fun activities

Doesn't this all look significantly more reinforcing than just being handed a little piece of paper with a stamp on it? One way looks a lot closer to real life and the other way looks a lot closer to how we train seals.

Educators must be taught how to "do PBIS" with explicit strategy and procedural instruction, taught by master carpenters. Whether or not we can do this will determine whether or not we can produce positive, pro-social citizens who can make our country better instead of worse.

Behavioral consultant Scott Ervin is a parent and former teacher and principal. More information can be found at www.behavioralleadership.com.