Bad Van Behavior Kills Ski Fun

What is fun? Cross Country Skiing

What kills fun? Driving a 15-passenger-van full of kids, three of which are  fighting in the back.

Last week Thursday was the first day of ski lessons and everything was going great: the trip to Blackhawk Ski Club went well; the kids loved skiing; and the weather was perfect.

And then we got in the van to go home.

Joan started talking trash and couldn’t keep her mouth shut. To make things worse, her brother and another girl egged her on.

Things got so loud I had to pull over and sort things out. I split up Joan and her brother which meant displacing two other kids who were acting fine. I hate this.

Being a teacher is tough sometimes. I want to have fun with the kids, but I also have to be safe and take action when necessary. I’ll talk to the kids and parents and make sure they understand behavior expectations and the consequences. Right now, I’m thinking that if behavior results in pulling over the van, then the children involved will be removed from lessons. This may sounds harsh, but when it comes to safety, I’m not going to mess around. Besides, most of the kids are fine.  It’s not fair to the others to allow this kind of behavior.

One thing is clear, if I don’t take action, it will be a very long 8 weeks.

I’ll let you know what happens after this week’s lesson.

What are you doing to help kids with behavior issues? What works? What doesn’t? How do you decide when to remove children from an activity?

Diane Schwartz is an Outdoor Education Teacher at Goodman Community Center in Madison, Wisconsin. She is also the Site Coordinator at Schumacher Farm County Park in Waunakee. Register for this blog now and receive your free 11-page Bubble Activity Guide.  Thank you for visiting.