Given the opportunity to do something how do you approach it?
My son came home from school complaining about a ‘stupid rule’ his school recently established. After hearing the rule, I agreed that for a child like my son, the rule was stupid. However, I explained to him that the rule was enacted because they had to create a bar. A bar is a minimum standard of acceptance. This bar (which is set very low), is a bar that a lot of the students will use as their maximum code of behavior.
Think of an elementary school child told to read 15 minutes a day. The ones that need it the most will start getting antsy ten minutes into their reading session. By they time they reach fourteen and a half minutes, they’re already beginning to close the book. To get them to read for fifteen minutes, the bar has to be set higher.
Or, you tell your child to take out the trash. “But it’s not full is the response” No, but the rotten milk container in the trash makes it stink.” Because his bar is set to react only when the trash is full, a rancid smell is not included in his trash bar so the stinky trash will sit.
See where...