ABSTRACT
The newspapers are full of headlines about students who are out of control and creating havoc in schools across the country. The person on the street might refer to such students as disruptive, unruly, rude juvenile delinquents lacking respect for authority. Those of us who are older will remember a time when there were severe consequences for acting out at school and that often the consequences took the form of physical punishment such as the strap, the cane, a ruler across the knuckles or a flying chalk brush. Society has moved on and the days of corporal punishment are long gone; however, disruptive behaviour within the classroom is still an issue. Teachers, psychologists and other professionals now refer to such disruptive behaviour as ‘challenging behaviour’ or emotional behavioural difficulties. The many views in regard to definitions, types, causes and suitable interventions for such behaviour are the focus of this chapter.
