Students have the right to learn and teachers have the right to teach in safety. No one has the right to disrupt, to prevent other students from learning, or to violate the rights of others.

The intent of this school discipline is to teach students who are acting as a disturbance within the school environment, how to think of ways of reaching their goals without violating the rights of others. This is done by asking students to search within themselves and decide the way they want to be. A discipline process, to be effective, must treat students the same way as those having difficulty in an academic subject: in a non-punitive atmosphere with understanding, respect, and patience. This is what the Responsible Thinking Process (RTP) is all about. Because RTP is based on Perceptual Control Theory, we know how individuals control their perceptions, thus we are able to offer more effective support when working with students. It's the application of PCT principles through the procedures of RTP that really sets RTP apart from all other approaches.

• We believe that we are designed to control our perceptions, not out behaviors.

• We believe that as we control our perceptions, others may, whether intended or unintended, disturb what we are trying to control.

• We believe people are individually responsible for how they control their perceptions, regardless of any disturbances that may occur and who creates them.

• We believe that when a person is attempting to control another, counter-control may occur.

Copyright 2002 by George Venetis and Ed Ford