For ease of comprehension, the temperature analogy of "HOT-COLD- COOL" is used in the BeCool program to represent Assertion Theory's Passive, Aggressive, and Assertive styles of responding to intimidating behavior.
We can react to difficult behaviors such as teasing, bullying, anger, and criticism in one of three ways. We can be: (1) Passive or COLD, (2) Aggressive or HOT, and (3) Assertive or COOL. Each response has its own style and produces its own set of outcomes.
Passive/Cold Responses
The Passive/COLD response is a "Self-blaming Perceiving Style." The person thinks "I'm the problem" (takes it personally), "I'm never going to be good at this" (believes it to be permanent), and "I'm not good at anything" (believes it to be pervasive.)
Passive or "COLD" responses to difficult behavior generally involve withdrawal and avoidance. For example, a student might avoid a peer who has been teasing him.
Passive reactions often have the serious drawback of not alleviating the problem behavior. Passive responses may also result in feelings of frustration, anger, helplessness, sadness and contribute to reduced self-esteem.
Aggressive/Hot Responses
The Aggressive/HOT response is an "Other-blaming Perceiving Style." The person thinks "You're the problem (defensive), "You just don't like me" (takes it personally) and "You need to change" (demanding.)
Aggressive or "HOT" responses to difficult behavior often involve loss of temper control and outbursts of anger. For example, a student may "blow up" and yell at a teacher when presented with task demands that exceed his capabilities.
Aggressive responses typically result in negative consequences for the student and may not correct the source of the initial problem.
Assertive/Cool Responses
The Assertive/COOL response is a "Non-blaming Perceiving Style." The person focuses on the problem, not the person (doesn't take it personally, reflects on the consequences or alterative courses of action (problem-solving approach) and chooses to act in a way that is respectful to himself and others (is fair.)
Assertive or "COOL" responses to difficult behavior can be characterized as calm, reflective or "thought out." A COOL response can be anything from a nonresponsive demeanor (in the presence of bullies) to direct statements of feelings and desires related to the problem behavior.
For example, a possible response might be, "Please don't tease me about my weight. It hurts my feelings. If you don't stop, it's going to hurt our friendship. I don't want to lose you as a friend."
Assertive responses have the benefits of making expectations clear, maintaining or improving self-esteem, and often reducing the unwanted behavior.
The BeCool Paradigm and the Adolescent with Special Needs
BeCool is the first program to bring the power of Assertiveness Strategies to the person with learning and developmental disabilities. It is a simple but powerful approach to feelings and behavior management. It will empower all students to cope effectively in a world filled with aggression and conflict.
Self-Control, Response Inhibition & Thinking Through Consequences
In the Middle School version of the BeCool series, "Response Inhibition" and the "Thinking Through the Consequences" are modeled by the BeCool actors and actresses right before they choose a COOL response. After "Thinking Through" the negative consequences of a COLD or HOT response, and after giving themselves time to get in control, they make the decision to BeCool. This process of "Thinking Through the Consequences" should be practiced intensively during the roleplay portions of each lesson. The purpose of "Thinking Through the Consequences" is to interrupt or inhibit the automatic self-defeating COLD or HOT response.
Video Modeling Defined
Your students will learn how to cope with difficult people by watching how others cope in social situations, then reenacting or practicing these strategies themselves. This is called "Video Modeling" and the BeCool series uses it to dramatize successful and unsuccessful ways of relating to others. "Video Modeling" provides role ideals, or models, to demonstrate specific coping strategies that can be emulated by students. Review these behaviors with your students through "stop action replay." You can examine how positive behaviors affect others as well as witness the unfortunate consequences of inappropriate behavior. Just as an athlete improves skills through video replay review, your students will learn to enhance their own social performance through the "Video Models" found in the BeCool video programs.
Return to: BeCool Program Overview