How do you deal with a singular problem student? It’s a conundrum that has stressed out many hardworking teacher. It can sometimes seem like you can’t put a foot right: come down too hard on them and you risk making them even less willing to learn, but being too lenient can also have the same effect. 

Positive reinforcement is important, but it doesn’t always get the message across. This is a lesson one teacher learned when they carried out an act of petty revenge on one of their 5th grade students. The kid had been the main troublemaker in class for the entire year, despite efforts to improve his behavior. This led the teacher to demonstrate the consequences of these actions by investing in some cookies for everybody in the class except him. While the move could be considered controversial, fellow educators applauded what had been done. Here’s hoping that there was a lesson learned from the experience.