Undesirable Behaviors during Early Childhood Years
Amy Ross
Mrs. Thomas
Child Guidance EDU: 146.01
November 11, 2008
Amy Ross
Mrs. Thomas
Child Guidance EDU: 146.01
November 11, 2008
Hurting Others
Children hit others as part of normal child development wherein a child experiences emotional and behavioral problems. However, frequent physical aggression may mean that a child is having serious emotional or behavioral problems that need to be addressed. Children look to their parents as models; adults’ responses to circumstances affect the emotion of the child. The emotional and social development of children is greatly dependent on the emotional well-being of their parents.
Children may have a harder time understanding their anger in order to control these negative feelings and be able to express them in appropriate ways. Yet we cannot wait for the aggressive behaviour to signal to us that the child is experiencing angry feelings. What if the child does not or cannot express that anger in aggressive ways? Maybe the child is releasing the anger by being rude or verbally abusive to others, or by ignoring others. The child may be turning the anger on himself- self-destructive behaviour such as starving himself, banging his head on the wall, etc. Other sign’s to look for that the child is carrying around angry feelings include deviant behaviour, not wanting to follow rules and guidelines, staying away from friends, declining performance in school.
What can adults do to help children cope with their anger?
• We can start by talking with them about their feelings and helping them to understand what they are feeling. It is also important not to blame them or make them think that they are bad for having these negative feelings. It is natural to have these negative feelings. We all do. But it is what we do about it that matters. When a child displays anger we must separate the feeling from the human being in there. We can deal with the...