Behavioural Modification

Research on the relationship between educational difficulties and antisocial behaviour has had a long history. Many studies have found that children with educational difficulties are more antisocial, but the field has yet to reach a consensus about the precise cause of this relationship. Trzesniewski (2006) reports that an authoritative review of 17 longitudinal studies concluded that the relationship between educational underachievement and antisocial behaviour is robust, but also lamented that the cause of the relationship remains equivocal (Hinshaw, 1992) and more recent reviews agree (Dionne, 2005; Mandel, 1997). Understanding why young people's educational difficulties go hand in hand with their antisocial behaviour has important implications for interventions.

The present study reports the positive effects of a reading programme intervention (Toe by Toe) that reduced the level of disruptive classroom behaviour.

Prior to the students going on the Toe by Toe programme they were more disruptive than the average Year 9 student. However when they were on the Toe by Toe programme the level of disruptive behaviour reduced from the Year 9 level. In comparison, the average Year 9 student (not on the Toe by Toe programme) appears to become more disruptive as they move from Year 9 to Year 10.

Background

The future of our society is dependent on the health, wellbeing and educational achievement of the young people of today. It is therefore important that society promotes and enables young people to be healthy, happy, well educated and productively employed. The study of the effects of early economic inactivity on young people has identified a link between early inactivity with a high probability of inactivity at a later stage (Maloney, 2004). Maloney initially defined economic inactivity as "…occurring when an individual is not enrolled in education or training, and not working in the labour market" Consequences of this economic inactivity or non-participation are negative both for the young person and wider society (Flemming, Kainuku-Walsh, Denny, Watson 2004).

In his address to the inaugural Council Meeting on 27th October 2004, Mayor Garry Moore said.

"I'd like to give some new guarantees.

To our young people I'd like to guarantee that :

in this city they will get to certain levels of literacy and numeracy. If you can read and count then you've got a very good start in life. This, however, cannot be undertaken by our schools on their own. There are squads of retired people out there who could really spend some of their time teaching one of our future ratepayers how to read or count.

There is a great deal of anecdotal evidence about the abilities, or lack of, of our youth. For Christchurch we need to find out what the problems are. Young people with these problems will probably fall into one or more of three categories - never been taught or learnt, not enough teaching to enable skill retention, or unable to be taught through mental or physical or emotional conditions. The education system can identify and perhaps deal with those in its care, but we all know that schools never have enough staff, funding or time to support all students' individual needs. Other Government agencies appear to be stretched or just not coping. The youth that don't fit into those categories, and those who do, need extra support to reach the literacy and numeracy benchmarks that society demands to enable them to be a positive contributor to our great city."

Barriers to learning, were to be targeted in 2006 at Linwood College as part of an ongoing study by LANE - (Literacy And Numeracy Empowerment project)

The Youth Health Collaborative would have a team of health professionals examining the Eyes, Ears, Nose and Throat, and a Dental check and Linwood College would examine the Demographics, Aerobic Fitness, Health measurements, HEADS assessment for mental health and academic performance and pastoral care of the students.

Rather than just testing the year 9 and year 10 students, which may become a negative experience, we turned it into an Expo on Health and make it a positive experience with a number of freebies and pamphlet takeaways. This was achieved in addition to the assessments of the students and the following exhibited. NZ Blood Service, Cancer Society, Auhi Kore / Smokefree, Diverse café / 198 Youth, Heart Foundation, Sports & Rec Kaiwhakahaere, Mental Health Foundation, Sport Canterbury.

This study was part of this larger study and focused on the pastoral care information held on the Linwood College database. An intervention was used in the form of Toe by Toe, a reading recovery programme and it was suggested that students who had engaged in this programme were more likely to be less of a problem in their succeeding year as they engaged in class activities.

This study quantifies that process.