Guidance & Discipline Guidelines
Guidance and Discipline Guidelines
For All Adults* to follow while in the Austin Community College Children’s Lab School
Guidance and discipline must be:
1. Individualized and consistent for each child;
2. Appropriate to the child’s level of understanding; and
3. Directed toward teaching the child acceptable behavior and self-control.
4. A positive method of discipline and guidance that encourages self-esteem, self-control, and self-direction
A caregiver may only use positive methods of guidance and discipline that encourage self-esteem, self-control,
and self-direction, which include:
1. Appreciating each child’s unique personality, abilities, activity level, and pace of development and
responding to children’s individual needs;
2. Building relationships with children by learning to read nonverbal signals, sense mood and level of
attention and adjust interactions accordingly for infants and showing respect by listening, answering
questions, and engaging toddlers and preschoolers in meaningful conversations;
3. Identifying and accepting children’s feelings while encouraging emotional expression of those feelings;
4. Modeling good emotional expression and management;
5. Modeling and reinforcing positive behavior by using praise and encouragement of appropriate behavior
instead of focusing only upon unacceptable behavior;
6. Anticipating children’s behavior and gently enforcing consistent limitations;
7. Reminding a child of behavior expectations daily by using clear, positive statements;
8. Redirecting children’s inappropriate behaviors to a more acceptable alternative;
9. Encouraging social problem solving with peers;
10. Following through on logical consequences when appropriate; and
11. As a last resort using brief supervised separation from the group.
Behavior problems are dealt with at school rather than parents being asked to discipline their child for events that
occur at school. When behaviors continue to be a problem, staff and consultants may conduct a functional
behavior assessment (FBA). Staff and parents will work to create a positive behavior support plan (PBS) that
will be implemented and evaluated over time. In some cases, a referral may be made or a consultant may be used
to assist with solving the problem. If staff, parents, and outside consultation determines that the program is unable
to meet the needs of a child, staff will work closely with the family to find an appropriate placement for the child.
Staff may NEVER use physical punishment, psychological abuse, or coercion when disciplining a child,
including:
1. Physical punishment or threats of physical punishment, including, shaking, hitting with a hand or
instrument, spanking, paddling, slapping jerking, squeezing, kicking, biting, pinching, excessive tickling,
and pulling arms, hair, or ears;
2. Requiring a child to remain silent or inactive for inappropriately long periods of time for the child’s age;
3. Psychological abuse, including, shaming, name calling, ridiculing, humiliation, sarcasm, yelling at, cursing
at, making threats or frightening a child, ostracism, rejecting, or withholding affection.
4. Coercion, including, rough handling (shoving, pulling, pushing, grasping any body part); forcing a child to
sit down, lie down, or stay down, except when restraint is necessary to protect the child or others from
harm; physically forcing a child to perform an action (such as eating or cleaning up);
5. Punishment associated with food, naps, or toilet training;
6. Putting anything in or on a child’s mouth and/or;
7. Placing a child in a locked or dark room, bathroom, or closet with the door closed.
*All Adults includes teachers, staff, faculty, volunteers, lab students, parents, family members & anyone dropping off or picking up a child at the Lab School.