Children often engage in aggressive acts like scratching, hitting, slapping, pinching, biting, kicking, poking, pulling hair, and a lot more. These harmful behaviors that children portray with their playmates or classmates need to be corrected.
As an adult, these behaviors are unacceptable; when you see children fight, it’s your responsibility to stop them and teach them that it’s not okay to hurt others. In some cases, the aggressive behaviors that a child show towards others is what they see on TV and what they see other people do. A child who witnesses abuse or is also being spanked at home has a higher chance of hurting others.
In raising a child, teaching them not to hurt others is an essential value that needs to be instilled in their values. Here are some of the ways on how to correct the aggressive behaviors of the kids.
Talk About the Behavior
When talking about their behavior, it’s best to wait until your kid is calmer. Make sure to know where your kid is coming from. Understand the reason for the aggressive behavior. Aside from telling them that their actions are inappropriate, explain to them the possible consequence of their actions is that no one would play with him anymore.
Teach them ways to be a good friend, such as sharing toys and not fighting friends. By talking to your child, you can assess if they have problems containing their anger, frustration, or insecurity, to know the aspect that you will focus on.
Praise Your Child for Friendly Behavior
Kids respond well through rewards. By simply praising them and giving them treats such as stars, this will help them be aware of not being aggressive in a day. This is the best preventive measure that you can use without scolding or being strict to them.
Set a Good Example for Your Child
A child easily imitates what they see adults do. When the child sees violence in his surroundings, he might think that hurting other people is just fine. It’s easier to teach children to do good when they also see living examples in their environment.
Avoid Hitting Your Child
When you see your child hitting someone, practice self-control. There’s a tendency to hit your child on the spot when you see them hurt others, but that is not the best way to deal with the issue.
The first thing to do is to check that the other child isn't hurt, then leave the area together with your child. It’s ideal to practice verbal problem solving, explain to the child that what he did is wrong. Hurting your child when they hurt others will not do anything good and it may just cause trauma to your child.
Know When to Call Professional Help
Here are some of the signs that indicate you need to call professional help: when the aggressive behavior of the child is frequent, when the child can no longer keep friends, when the inflicted harm is serious, and when the misbehavior continues after talking to your child.
Calling professional help is not only applicable when one or more signs are observed, but the moment you don’t know how to act upon seeing your child hurting someone, you require professional help so they can give you guidance on how to deal with your kid.
Conclusion
Aggressive behavior shown by your child are just normal, especially since they are still in the stage of exploring different emotions. However, it's important to guide your child to correct such behavior so it will not lead to a serious behavioral problem in the future.
