A part of being human is understanding that our decisions affect ourselves and others. Our actions do both harm and good. What we say can heal or hurt. We can all add energy to a stressful situation or remove energy from a situation. But when was the last time that your behavior or something you said wasn’t received well? When was the last time you made a mistake that had social implications?

I’m sure as you were reading these questions, there were situations or conversations that came to mind. Regardless of developmental level, we are all human beings. We can make mistakes. We can break the rules. Sometimes we have bad days. Sometimes we don’t have our needs met. And that can cause us to make some silly decisions. For example, speed limits are enforced on highways through warnings and citations. We all know someone who has a lead foot, but speed limits and enforcement of speed limits exist for a reason: to reduce the risks involved with drivers’ speed choices.

There is no such thing as the perfect adult, which means there is no such thing as the perfect child or student. As much as we all love reinforcing positive behavior on Building Dreams through First Downs and Extra Points, we also have to address decisions that are against the school’s and/or Building Dreams Core Values.

When schools license Building Dreams, teachers, principals, and school staff are able to address problematic student behavior by giving Sacks and Red Zones to students. Through a gamified approach, students are actively engaged in their personal decision-making. When given a Sack, students move farther away from the End Zone (i.e. earning an incentive). While First Downs give you yards, Sacks remove yards.

Sacks and Red Zones are related in the sense that they are both behavioral intervention tools. Sacks serve as an informal behavioral intervention, more of a “warning,” while a Red Zone is more synonymous with an office referral and has similar input fields that are in a student information system (SIS) like Skyward, PowerSchool, or Infinite Campus.

Both Sacks and Red Zones can be viewed by Parent and Student Users, as well as Site Admin and Teachers. The gamified approach makes the intervention more digestible for students while providing a streamlined communication for parents and home caregivers.

For more information on Building Dreams, email information@fightforlifefoundation.org or visit our website at www.fightforlifefoundation.org!