Good Behaviour Game
Ages 6 – 8 Years
A school-based program to improve emotional self-regulation
Building resilience through emotional self-regulation
The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a classroom management strategy where students are divided into teams and rewarded for displaying positive behaviours, such as staying on task and following rules. Teams earn points or rewards for good behaviour, reinforcing self-regulation and cooperation while reducing disruptive conduct in the short term and improving health outcome in the long-term.
Evidence Base
The epidemiological and randomised trial of 41 classrooms in 19 schools (in 1985) found that GBG was effective for all students, especially for highly aggressive male students. A follow-up study was conducted when the cohort was 19-21 years old, and researchers found significant positive effects of the experiment on health outcomes, such as a reduction in drug abuse, smoking, alcohol abuse, criminal behaviour and suicidal thoughts (Kellam et al., 2011). In a standard classroom, drug abuse, antisocial behaviour, and violent and criminal behaviour for highly aggressive males were 83%, 100%, and 50%, respectively. Whereas in a good behaviour classroom, drug abuse, antisocial behaviour, and violent and criminal behaviour for highly aggressive males were 29%, 40%, and 24%, respectively (Kellam et al., 2011). Building emotional self-regulation skills in children at a young age results in positive health outcomes in adulthood (Kellam et al., 2011).
Implementation
School program implemented by a teacher
Materials
Manuals and protocols for teacher training
Scope of Work
All public and private schools in India