FFS 271: DISCIPLINE IDEA: The Invisible Contract

Today on the podcast, Sean shares a little bit of Katie Anderson’s breakout session at the 2018 Preteen Leaders’ Conference. Katie Anderson discusses how we as leaders should be teaching content, procedures, and behavior. She notes that kids want to learn appropriate behavior. Think of it in this way, every student that walks into your ministry has an invisible contract in their hands. Their contract states that they would like you to teach them appropriate behavior in a safe and structured environment. On the flip side our part of the contract says that we will promise them that we will teach them appropriate behavior in a safe and structured environment. Students will test this contract by breaking a small rule. Based on how you come down on them for breaking the rule will determine if the student is able to trust you or not. Students who do not get the appropriate response back from you will keep coming back with larger and larger infractions until you come through with him consistently with safety and structure. Assume that when kids are testing the rules it is because they are testing us and want us to pass the test. They want us to show that your ministry is a safe and structured environment for them. Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to [email protected]. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.