Youth Ministry - Discipline With Youth: Preventive Discipline

www.CreativeYouthIdeas.com

Youth Ministry - Discipline With
Youth: Preventive Discipline
When we discipline youth, our goal is
the internal control of the teen instead
of the external control of the teacher.

www.CreativeSermonIdeas.com


With teens, abnormal behavior is
almost always normal and only a
temporary phase they pass
through on the path toward
adulthood. Remember your own
teen years, be flexible and keep a
good sense of humor.



Discipline is from the word
“disciple” which means “learner”.
Therefore discipline is leading a
person into self-control through
instruction and example. It is not
the same as punishment.
Punishment may be a part of
discipline as it is a means to control
behavior when a person is unable to
exercise self control. Our goal is the
internal control of the teen instead
of the external control of the
teacher.



Preventive discipline
I. Set reasonable limits

1. Decide what is and what is
not objectionable behavior
and set specific limits
accordingly. Consider the
age and needs of youth.



2. Youth should know and agree to
the limits and have some limited
room for negotiation. Allow, as
much as possible, for freedom and
flexibility within the rules set. Like
bargaining for a price it is best to
set your price too high and bargain
down to where you
want. In the end both parties feel
that have a gotten a good deal! If
youth help make the rules they
break them less frequently.



3. Be careful not to set too many
rules. Decide which battles are
worth fighting and save your
resources for the battles that are
really important.



II. Establish consequences

1. Avoid threats.
2. Once limits are set, don’t budge on
them. Youth are continually testing
limits to see how far they push
them. They want freedom but they
also want limits that are firm. It
gives them security. Yet they must
also know what will happen when a
rule is broken. They WILL break
them at times even to just see if
you will follow through.



3. Consequences should be
edifying, consistent, fair and fit
the action. Don’t play favorites.
Build a good healthy respect for
youth in discipline. Never
embarrass a youth in front of
peers. Deal with them alone and
attack the behavior, not the
person.



III. Create the right atmosphere

1. Set a positive tone to your
relationship. Notice and affirm
appropriate behavior. If you spend
most of your time affirming you
will need to spend little time
correcting. Affirmation &
encouragement are inspiring.
Criticism is largely self defeating.



2. Youth can tell if you are a drill
sergeant, a pushover or someone in
between. Being too strict is a
mistake but so is being too lenient.
A happy balance must be
established so that youth are
allowed free expression as their
talkative high energy selves within
an orderly context.
3. Correct with compassion instead of
harshness.
4. Avoid the use of labels to
characterize youth such as
“naughty”, “bad”, “good”, “lazy”,
“slow”, etc.



IV. Eliminate conditions which
cause behavior problems

1. Conditions leading to discipline
problems may be internal, external,
temperament, developmental or
symptomatic:
• Poor student/ teacher ratio
• The room being too hot or too
cold
• The room being too crowded
• The room having too many
distractions



• Make sure activities involve
everyone. Often youth who aren’t
involved are the ones that create
the most problems.
• Move smoothly and quickly
between activities. When a lag
occurs between activities,
problems tend to occur.



• Arrive early, prepared, and ready
to start. Start with a “bang” to
encourage promptness. Fight
teens’ tendency to be late by
starting on time. Start meetings
with a quick activity that will grab
their attention instead of running
after them, wasting your time
trying to round them up.
• Use positive clear directions. If
youth are unclear of instructions
then tend to be disruptive.
• High sugar at beginning of
sessions



V. Build relationships

Youth are more likely to respond to
someone who respects them as
individuals and whom they have grown
to respect. Get to know all youth,
especially those tending toward
behavioral problems. Accept their silly,
noisy sides and direct their high energy
into appropriate outlets. Accept
feelings and high energy they cannot
control but seek to stop disruptive,
annoying, and destructive behavior.



VI. Plan high energy
programs

Youth have an attention span in
minutes approximately equal to
their age in years. Good meetings
are positive, upbeat, and have a
wide range of activities that are
exciting and fun, game oriented,
and concise.

VII. Plan with youth

The more ownership youth have in
an event, the less discipline
problems you will have.



Camp Curriculum - Whale of a Tale
Bible Studies based on the book of Jonah
Only. This youth camp curriculum was
designed to teach the basic truths
of obedience in addition to evangelism in the
context of a Biblical character. The advantage
of going through a book and looking at one
man's story is that we see not only the
teaching but the example. It becomes much
more real!
-> Tell me about “Whale of a Tale”

www.creativeyouthideas.com/resources/order5.html


Creative Youth Ideas
Camp Bible Study Series
“Who Do You Say that I AM?”
Jesus asked the disciples, "Who do others
say that I am?" It was easy to answer
because it required no conviction, no
commitment, and no risk. But then he
follows that question with another, "Who
do YOU say that I am?"

-> Tell me about “Who Do You Say that I AM?”

www.creativeyouthideas.com/resources/whodoyousay.html


Creative Youth Ideas
Youth Camp Bible Study Series
“Fruit Of the Spirit”
Live the Fruitful, Abundant Life
Jesus Promised. Great for youth camps or
weekly Youth Bible Study. There are 7
Primary Bible study Sessions in the series.

-> Tell me about “Fruit Of the Spirit”

www.creativeyouthideas.com/resources/fruitofthespirit.html


Camp Curriculum - The Great Adventure

"The Great Adventure" is western
themed Bible study series loosely based
around the song of the same name by
Steven Curtis Chapman. It was initially
written for a large Texas Church to use for
their Summer Youth Camp but has since
then proven popular around the world.

-> Tell me about “The Great Adventure”

www.creativeyouthideas.com/resources/order12.html

Youth Ministry - Discipline With Youth: Preventive Discipline

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Youth Ministry - Discipline With Youth: Preventive Discipline