Looking back on my career in education, working with at-risk teens in a variety of settings, one thing that was becoming clear to me while I was in the middle of my work is painfully obvious with the benefit of distance.
Reward and punishment, point systems, levels, all the external structure we imposed on the children under our care should have been the starting point to helping the child develop an internal structure to help him or her understand and interact with the world. Instead, it became the formula for the entire program. It was easier for us and for the children, but probably not the best for either.
Creating a program that would have helped a child move from external to internal control within an environment that had children in all stages of treatment, from entry on, would have been extremely difficult. But, it would have avoided the unfortunate circumstance I heard about more than a few times of a child who learned to function well within the tightly structured confines of a rigid system and who was then thrust, with no transition, into a world that bore no resemblance to the one he or she was leaving.
This is, of course, not limited to children in treatment. I know several people who do not do well with retirement and prefer (and sometimes return to) a work environment where they are told what needs to be done and when to do it. Likewise, persons incarcerated in our prison system are required to operate within a system of very specific and powerful external controls until the day their sentence is concluded. Then, unless they can access a halfway house or a workplace that has transition as a priority, they are on their own. Little wonder that some make sure they are back in the system in short order.
I’m still working at building a life centered on internal controls. It’s not easy for me, but the moments when I can make it work make it clear how worthwhile it is, both for me and those around me.