Graded privilege systems refer to school behaviour management approaches where students earn or lose access to activities, spaces, or freedoms based on their behaviour or compliance with expectations. These systems often organise privileges in levels or stages—for example, allowing access to recess, preferred activities, or classroom participation only after certain behavioural criteria are met. While intended to motivate positive behaviour, graded privilege systems can create barriers when basic aspects of school participation are treated as rewards rather than rights. For disabled students in particular, behaviours linked to dysregulation, communication differences, or unmet needs may result in repeated loss of privileges, which can increase exclusion and frustration rather than addressing the underlying issue. When participation in learning, movement, or social time becomes conditional on compliance, students may experience school less as a supportive environment and more as a system of rewards and penalties.