Consequences can often be a source of contention within the school community. Some feelings consequences are too lenient and some feeling consequences are too strict. There also may be complaints about consistency and much frustration when consequences seem to be ineffective. Creating a menu of consequences that includes a variety of corrective, logical and natural consequences can greatly increase the likelihood of behavior change and effectiveness. 

 

The goal of consequences is to communicate that a student has engaged in a  behavior that is not appropriate in the setting or has broken an expectation. Effective consequences should cause a behavioral change. Consequences that have a clear  connection between the behavior and the effect it has on others tend to be the most effective..  The connection between the consequence and the behavior increases the likelihood of behavioral change and also tends to  increase the effectiveness of the consequence. 

 

The resources discussed in the link below are designed to support the implementation of consequences that tend to lead to changes in problematic behaviors.  These resources are logical consequences, reflection and the use of consequence menus.