(a) Behavior guidance shall be:

1. (1) Individualized and consistent for each participant;
2. (2) Appropriate to the participant’s level of understanding; and
3. (3) Directed toward teaching the participant acceptable behavior and self-control.

(c)

1. (1) The out-of-school time (OST) program shall offer a nurturing, respectful, supportive, and responsive environment that supports frequent interactions between the participants and staff.

2. (2) Staff shall:

   1. (A) Support participants in developing an understanding of self and others by assisting the participants in sharing:

(i) Ideas;

1. (ii) Experiences; and

   1. (iii) Feelings;
   2. (B) Provide participants age-appropriate opportunities for growth and development of their social and communication skills;
   3. (C) Assist the participants in solving problems;
   4. (D) Foster creativity and independence in routine activities that shall include tolerance for mistakes;

   5. (E) Treat and model equality of all participants regardless of:

      1. (i) Race;
      2. (ii) Religion;
      3. (iii) Culture;
      4. (iv) Gender; and
      5. (v) Ability;
   6. (F) Offer verbal encouragement to the participants during the course of an activity;
   7. (G) Use respectful voice tone and positive guidance practices; and

   8. (H) Promote teamwork among participants.

      1. (d) For behavior guidance practices used by the OST program, the program shall:
2. (1) Discuss the behavior guidance practices of the OST program with the parents of each participant at the time of enrollment;
3. (2) Provide a copy of the behavior guidance practices in writing to the parents;
4. (3) Have each parent verify in writing their receipt of a copy of the behavior guidance practices; and
5. (4) Maintain the signed verification in the participant’s record.

(e) The OST program shall guide the behavior of the participants based on an understanding of the participant’s individual needs and stages of development by:

1. (1) Supporting the participant’s developmentally appropriate:

   1. (A) Social behavior;
   2. (B) Self-control; and
   3. (C) Respect for the rights of others;

2. (2) Ensuring that the behavior management and discipline practices are:

   1. (A) Fair;
   2. (B) Reasonable;
   3. (C) Consistent; and
   4. (D) Related to the participant’s behavior;
3. (3) Ensuring that staff are responsible for implementing the behavior management and discipline practices of the OST program; and

4. (4) Ensuring that staff do not administer discipline that is:

   1. (A) Cruel;
   2. (B) Unusual;
   3. (C) Hazardous;
   4. (D) Frightening; or
   5. (E) Humiliating.

(f) Acceptable behavior guidance techniques include:

1. (1) Look for appropriate behavior and reinforce the participant with praise and encouragement when they are behaving well;
2. (2) Remind the participant on a daily basis of the rules by using clear positive statements regarding how they are expected to behave rather than what they are not supposed to do;
3. (3) Attempt to ignore minor inappropriate behavior and concentrate on what the participant is doing properly;
4. (4) Use brief supervised separation from the group only when the participant does not respond to a verbal command that instructs the participant as to how he or she is supposed to behave;
5. (5) When a misbehaving participant begins to behave appropriately, encourage and praise small steps rather than waiting until the participant has behaved appropriately for a long period of time; and
6. (6) Attend to the participants who are behaving appropriately, and other participants will follow their example in order to obtain your attention.

(g)

1. (1) The following activities or threats of such activities are unacceptable as behavior guidance measures and shall not be used for participants.

2. (2) These include, but are not limited to the following:

   1. (A) Using physical punishment such as:

      1. (i) Biting or biting back;
      2. (ii) Jerking;
      3. (iii) Swatting;
      4. (iv) Pulling hair;
      5. (v) Twisting arms;
      6. (vi) Shaking;
      7. (vii) Spanking;
      8. (viii) Slapping;
      9. (ix) Hitting;
      10. (x) Striking;
      11. (xi) Kicking; or
      12. (xii) Exercising other means of inflicting physical or emotional pain or causing bodily harm;
   2. (B) Using a physical restraint method that may cause injury to the participant;
   3. (C) Using a mechanical restraint, locked time-out room, or closet;
   4. (D) Washing mouth with soap;
   5. (E) Taping or obstructing a participant’s mouth;
   6. (F) Placing unpleasant or painful-tasting substances in mouth, on lips, etc.;
   7. (G) Profane or abusive language;
   8. (H) Isolation without supervision;
   9. (I) Placing participant in a dark area;

   10. (J)

       1. (i) Yelling.
       2. (ii) This does not include a raised voice level to gain a child’s attention to protect the participant from risk of harm;

   11. (K)

       1. (i) Forcing physical activity, such as running laps, doing pushups, etc.
       2. (ii) This does not include planned group physical education activities that are not punitive in nature;

   12. (L) Associating punishment with:

       1. (i) Rest;
       2. (ii) Toilet training; or
       3. (iii) Illness;

   13. (M)

       1. (i) Denying food (lunch or snacks) as punishment or punishing participants for not eating.
       2. (ii) Participants shall not be forced or bribed to eat;
   14. (N) Shaming, humiliating, frightening, or physically or mentally harming participants or labeling participants; and
   15. (O) Covering the faces of participants with blankets or similar items.