Bad Behavior in Kids

A kid whining and crying in anger and frustration.

All kids tend to behave badly from time to time. These behaviors are distressing to parents, siblings and teachers. Everyone would like to prevent these bad behaviors in kids, but a good understanding of the reasons behind these behaviors is more important than just preventing them. It can be an uphill task to deal with bad behavior but negligence would make it much worse. The best approach is to have an unwavering, firm hand to deal with this problem.

Forms

Whining and moaning is a widespread concern and it generally emanates from a desire for attention. Stealing and lying are other issues whereby kids take something that doesn't belong to them and make false statements simply to escape punishment. Often, young children get into temper fits as a way to vent their distress when they can't get what they want. Further, they also pick up vulgar language and resort to biting and kicking to take revenge or gain control.

Classification

Not all bad behavior in kids can be attributed to bad morals. The kid might have accidentally or intentionally misbehaved. Accidental misbehavior can be described in the context where a group of children are playing and through absent-mindedness, a kid ends up hurting the next kid. Intentional misbehavior can be described as when a kid steals a bar of chocolate after the parent has refused to purchase one for him.

Reasons

The primary reason for bad behavior in kids is fear that can be imaginary or real. It happens when the kid stops or resists doing things he used to do. Secondly, frustration can be the underlying factor for bad behavior especially if teachers and parents pile a lot of pressure on the kid to perform. Anger and resentment toward a parent or teacher who treats them unfairly (as perceived in relation to other kids) also can cause kids to behave badly. Being told what to do every time causes a feeling of hate for those rules and as such the kid misbehaves just to see what would happen.

Punishment

Punishment should be carried out with utmost care. This is because punishment can create a temporary solution to the bad behavior but at the same time it might also cause sustained internal anger, defiant behavior and also feelings of revenge.

Prevention

Parents should set limits to which inappropriate behaviors by kids will be tolerated. The kid needs to realize that he is being corrected out of love and should also get to see the parents behaving properly. This means parents should not fight or use abusive language in the presence of the kid.

References

• Canadien Mental Health Association: "Children and Difficult Behaviour"
• Family Doctor: "Child Behavior: What Parents Can Do to Change Their Child's Behavior"
• Mom Conversations: "The Whys of Whining"
• Kids Growth: "When a Child Uses Bad Language"

Resources

• Effective Parenting: "Good Kids - Bad Behavior"