HOW TO GET YOUR CHILDREN TO BE GOOD STUDENTS/HOW TO GET YOUR STUDENTS TO BE GOOD CHILDREN

With clarity about what you want, belief that the child can change, and a firm tone--presto, homework is done, playground fights are over forever, and classroom discipline problems disappear. This pat handbook for parents and teachers takes up with school problems where Schwartz' 1977 How to Get Your Children to Do What You Want Them To (written with Paul Wood) left off, adding assertiveness-training exercises to a reiterated reliance on making ""clear"" demands. A ""Family Intervention Worksheet"" sets forth five steps for clearing up problems: list the problem behaviors; examine reasons why you feel the child is misbehaving; consider past unsuccessful approaches; find examples of success; and then ""put it all together"" and, with a firm tone and upright posture, simply tell the child how to behave. (Exactly why the first four steps are necessary is not clear.) Teachers are told to follow similar steps--involving use of a similar outline--to solve classroom management problems. Also provided are teacher-directed exercises to teach children ""alternative ways of getting what they want"" (including a ""Self-Confidence Game,"" with a College Bowl format). There's even instruction in making ""negative expressions"" (avoiding both the ""King Kong"" and the ""Shy Puppy Dog"" approaches). Non-negotiable demands, however, are not among the recommended strategies for children; only adults deliver them in this simplistic view of changing children's behavior.