The Plan B Classroom 269in a way he knows is unacceptable,” interjected the fa-
ther. “After this recent episode, he was very upset.
That night he practically begged me to give him more
medicine so he wouldn’t act that way anymore.”
The assembled adults were silent for a brief mo-
ment.
“But I can’t give the other children in his class the
idea that they can do what he does and get away with
it,” said the principal.
“I honestly don’t think that the students who are
flexible and handle frustration well are going to start
exploding just because they see Casey getting away
with it,” said the psychologist. “And he’s not getting
away with it. If you’re teaching Casey how to deal
more adaptively with frustration and solving the prob-
lems that cause him to explode, his classmates see that
you take his explosions seriously, that you expect him
not to explode, and that you know what you’re doing.
They won’t think you know what you’re doing if you
make things worse.”
Did Casey run out of the classroom again during
the school year? Yes—to a designated desk in the hall-
way he knew was his “chill-out” area. Did he begin re-
turning to the classroom much more rapidly after he
left? Absolutely. Did he hit his principal again? No.
Did he hit his classmates a few times? Yes—just like
many of the other boys in his class. Did he continue to