Imparting Self-Control Skills in the School Setting

Abstract

This paper describes an educational program for teaching self-control methods to second- and sixth-grade students as part of their regular curricula. The program, an extension of an intervention program designed by Ronen, Wozner and Rahav (in press), is composed of two parts incorporating learning, training and practice of new knowledge on self-control at school, homework assignments, and the application of the learned material in the natural home environment. The program involves three steps: evaluation study, control study and extension to different age-groups and student populations. The present paper focuses on the first, i.e., theoretical description and evaluation. This evaluation shows that children can learn to use self-control skills and that, following training, there is an increase in self-control ratings among second grade students. Sixth grade students did not benefit form the program. The discussion deals with the differences between second and sixth graders. It is suggested that young children can learn self-control methods and use them for positive self-change.