Leader Resource CenterPioneer Clubs

Developing a Discipline Plan That Works
How to get a club discipline plan in place on several levels
by Gary L. Wall

Discipline is a topic of discussion for everyone who works with children. To assist you with club discipline, your club and church need to have a discipline plan in place on several levels:
  • your plan for your club room
  • a procedure for the overall club program
  • a church-wide policy and procedure

    As a leader, your immediate concern is keeping things under control in your own club room. To help with that, you need to have a plan. The first step is to be well-prepared to lead club. Know what you are going to do, and move the club members smoothly from one thing to the next. Being well-prepared can solve up to 80 percent of potential problems.

    The next step is to develop a discipline plan so you know what you are going to do if a discipline problem comes up. As you consider this, your goals should be to:
  • guide and correct behavior rather than punish
  • accept the child always, though not the behavior
  • communicate limits and expectations
  • nurture the children
  • help the children control themselves

    Club Rules
    Start with a list of rules that the kids can understand and follow. Use these guidelines:
  • Have no more than five rules. More than that and the kids will forget them.
  • State rules positively: “Only one person talks at a time” rather than “No talking out of turn.”
  • Keep rules understandable and observable: “Use people’s real names or nicknames they like” rather than “Be nice during club.”
  • Make the rules age-appropriate. Check the age characteristics chart in the front of your leader plan book.
  • Develop rules with the club members, as much as possible. If they help, they will have a better understanding of what is expected plus more “ownership” in making the rules work.

    Logical Consequences
    When club members behave unacceptably, use logical consequences.

    1. Ask yourself—“What could be a logical consequence of continuing to behave this way?” Ideas:
  • Persisting in fighting over the markers results in losing the privilege of using them.
  • Not cleaning the tables for Snack results in no place to have Snack.

    2. Offer the choice between behaving acceptably and continuing the unacceptable behavior—which brings the logical consequence:
  • “You may work out a way to share the markers or you may give up the markers for today. You choose.”
  • “When you finish cleaning the tables, then we can have Snack.”

    3. Give the choice once, and then implement the consequence, if need be, in a firm but friendly way.

    Backup Plan
    What if a major situation arises that isn’t covered by the rules? That’s when your all-club discipline plan needs to take over. The purpose of this plan is to be a backup for when you can’t solve a problem.

    Your discipline process for the total club program should outline who deals with what. A sample outline might be:
  • If the leader can’t solve the problem, the coordinator takes the child aside to find out the problem and how to solve it.
  • If the problem persists, the coordinator could ask a pastor to get involved.
  • If that doesn’t solve the problem, then the parents could be called and the leader/coordinator and parents could work together on it. (When dealing with parents, keep things on a positive note: “We’ve been challenged by Pat’s behavior and wonder if you could give us some tips on how you successfully handle this at home.”)

    It would be good to have all levels of the discipline plan written out so that all leaders know what they are and how they work. It would also be helpful if the all-club plans are used uniformly in all your church’s children’s ministries and are approved by the church leadership.

    For more help, get a copy of the Discipline: Guidance That Makes a Difference video (catalog #2779).

    With some planning and imagination, you can have a well-managed club that everyone can enjoy.
    In his 15 years at Pioneer Clubs, Vice President of Publications Gary L. Wall conducted discipline seminars for leaders and served as a Voyager Club leader himself.

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