If you are like many administrators, teachers or staff who have worked at a school where misbehavior is too common an issue, there is a good chance that you or your colleagues either dread going into the cafeteria during student lunch, or frequently experience dismay at the Pandora’s box of behavior resulting from poorly managed cafeterias during the latter part of the school day.  Make no mistake; overstimulation in the cafeteria has the potential to negatively impact every student and staff within the school setting. Student lunch is a good place where an observer might take the “temperature” of the school…one where a negative climate (shared perceptions) and culture (shared behaviors) has the potential to slowly creep down hallways, into the front office, and eventually into the classroom. If that sounds like an advertisement for the latest horror flick, then we have the same vision; if it elicited a visceral internal response, then you might be suffering from PTSD, likely as a result of the never ending uphill battle that some might refer to  (since we are talking about lunch!) as Hamburger Hill. 

In fact, while observing the cafeteria under less structured conditions, one might observe some well-meaning staff march to the front of the cafeteria, pick up the microphone as if it were a weapon, and then forcibly declare, “that’s it, SILENT LUNCH!”  Every time I see this I feel like yelling out “ma’am (or sir), put the microphone down and step away…slowly.”  I’ve observed this scene played out many times across many schools, especially elementary schools.  The funny thing is, it never works!

 I’m not sure what happens to folks when they enter the cafeteria.  Most of them are great people who behave benevolently…at least outside of the cafeteria!  However, when they cross the threshold that separates the cafeteria from the “real world,” it’s like they are entering a parallel dimension…one where an alternative self who prefers reprimand to reinforcement takes over.  Since I have a bit of a movie theme going, we might think of it as akin to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, or a never ending episode of Breaking Bad! 

I once experienced a bit of a Twilight Zone nightmare after observing countless reprimands from staff directed at students in one cafeteria.  As I contemplated the nightmare, I was awoken from it by a fair damsel who I caught smiling and praising a couple of students.  Since I was pre-occupied with a student, I quickly asked my colleague (who I was observing the cafeteria with) to let her know that we recognized and appreciated her positive interactions with the students.  To our chagrin, she actually began to cry!  Can you believe that??  Cry!!!  Talk about parallel universe.  But let’s think about this for a second.  If you are part of a cafeteria culture that has slowly drifted to the dark side, your efforts at positive interactions with the students might be perceived as a sign of weakness, or even anti-establishment.  That is exactly the sentiment that she later expressed to us.  By the way, she also mentioned it was “so nice” to hear “positive feedback”.  Apparently she (like the students) was in a state of deprivation related to positive feedback…further evidence of a culture that might be characterized as negative.

After witnessing similar scenes played out across other schools, my colleague and I decided that we needed to intervene.  Like any good behaviorists (actually, he is a Psychologist), we began collecting data on a variety of variables related to student and staff behavior.  Since the “SILENT LUNCH” demands were ineffective (actually doing more harm than good) and appeared random, we decided it might be helpful to collect data on the decibel levels in the cafeteria that evoked the “SILENT LUNCH” demand from staff.   Here is what we noted…there was no evident pattern regarding the decibel level that prompted staff to initiate the punishment.  The decibel levels were all over the place.  It was, we determined, based on the cultural norms, mood, perception, and noise tolerance of the attending staff.  Here is another piece…we collected data on the time.  Specifically, how long it took for students to begin talking again after the staff declared the “SILENT LUNCH” edict.  Any guesses?  Almost reliably, about 45-60 seconds later, a few students would begin whispering, and then a few more, and pretty soon the whole cafeteria was chatting away.  The result…just hit replay.  The same staff, said the same thing, and got the same results (you know what Einstein said about that).  I think we are into Groundhog Day territory now…or more recently, Edge of Tomorrow, but with no Tom Cruise to save the day.  Fortunately, we didn’t need Tom Cruise.  We were armed with the science of behavior.

Incidentally, it is worth mentioning again that these staff members are almost always good and kind people.  They were getting caught up in what Glenn Latham called the Criticism Trap, whereby the tendency is to “catch students behaving bad” as opposed to recognizing “good” or improved behavior.  One reason why, in my opinion, is they hadn’t been trained and coached to fluency in some simple procedures for managing behavior.  Sure there might be rules on the wall, and sure they may have gone to “training” related to behavior; however there is no way they would continue to use ineffective strategies if they knew better.  Nobody, I mean, NOBODY, wants to consistently manage chronic misbehavior.  It can be exhausting.  I believe administrators, teachers, and support staffs truly desire to perform well, for students to achieve, and for misbehavior to remain at a minimum.  They just need to be taught (not told) better.

Stay tuned for the epic conclusion in my next article, From Breaking Bad to Making Rad! Where I’ll share simple behavior-based strategies for improving cafeteria culture and climate.

As a certified behavior analyst who concentrates on organizational behavior management and behavioral leadership, Paul provides administrative teams, teachers, and staff with coaching and consultation in analyzing and developing behavior and performance management systems directly aligned with student achievement.  Contact Paul at gavonip@hotmail.com Dr. Paul Gavoni has successfully supported multiple struggling schools in the turnaround process.