Every classroom has an instigator. The 4-year-old class at the local day care I was teaching at was no exception. There were actually two little boys who often partnered in classroom crime. They might have been the undoing of the teachers had they not been so adorable. Elaborate acts of disobedience and simple breaking of the classroom rules landed them in the "thinking chair" on an almost daily basis.
One morning in particular they started off in unusually rare form. Our discipline system was set up in a demerit style, and instead, we chose to call them "strikes." We had not even finished roll call before the first strike was dealt out to one of the boys. The second strike came shortly after followed almost immediately by the third one which of course resulted in time out in the "thinking chair." One boy giggled in delight as the head teacher doled out the punishment to the other. His laughter continued as she stomped over to the chair almost dragging the child at her side. No doubt in her mind she was realizing that the early morning problems were going to make for a very long day. I suppressed a smile at the antics of the child, thinking the same thing as well.
We continued on in circle time for about a half hour with no more incidences of mischief to our great relief. I was team teaching with her and not yet having been hardened by years of experience, I dreaded having to hand out any punishment. As we were about to break and go to the various learning centers, a voice from among the group shouted out, "What’s wrong with Larry? Is he dead?" All eyes immediately went to the little spike-haired boy still sitting in the time out area. He sat motionless in the "thinking chair" with his head tilted all the way back soundly sleeping. In that moment, the student became the teacher as a familiar verse of Scripture flashed through my mind…"Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:11 NKJV)
The sight of this little boy, who miraculously enough had been so quiet that he had been forgotten, taking an early morning nap has never left my mind. The head teacher was concerned about her punishment being effective since he had fallen fast asleep. Perhaps it did not leave a lasting impression on the child, but it did leave one on me.
I had never seen a child go willingly to the "thinking chair." Rarely had I ever not heard the question spaced at 15-second intervals…"How much time do I have left?" Quite often I questioned who was actually being punished…the teacher or the child? This child had been chastised and though he did initially put up a fuss, he yielded to the discipline and, as a result, enjoyed the peace of his morning nap and woke up in a much better mood. There was no more trouble that day…no more timeouts or sitting in the "thinking chair," not because the discipline system had changed but because the child submitted to it.
So many times, I wrestle to free myself from the grip of God as He leads me to an area of timeout. He does it with my best interest in mind, to give me time to regroup and to protect me from greater trouble. Still all I can see is the punishment…rather than the purpose behind it. Refusing to go along peacefully, I go kicking and screaming all the way. I guess the thought never really occurred to me that God does not find pleasure in handing out punishment any more than I do. His heart is not hardened no matter how elaborate my schemes of disobedience. He chastises me for the purpose of bringing order to my life.
In the classroom setting, if a teacher does not have a system of discipline, utter chaos would prevail. Nothing could be accomplished, and no learning of any kind would take place. So it is in my life…in my "classroom of learning." There are many rewards but there must also be punishment, and the punishment is only truly effective when I peacefully submit to it.
I am not sure what this child was thinking before he dozed off that morning, but I could not help but think that out of all of the times he had spent in the "thinking chair" that this little morning siesta yielded the most benefit…not just to the student but also to his teacher. The Bible says, "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise." (I Corinthians 1:27a NKJV) That day He used the silly antics of a little spike-haired boy to teach this educator the importance of childlike submission to His loving discipline.
Copyright 2005 by Melinda Lancaster
