How to Set Goals for a Child's Behavior

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Pam on behalf of Expert Village and today we are going to talk about understanding behaviors in children. Now, there are 4 goals of misbehavior. The reason we call them goals is because they represent something the children have something they want to accomplish. The first one is "attention". The child obviously feels that they are not getting the attention they need and so they do whatever it takes to get that attention; whether it be positive attention or negative attention. They don't care as long as you are talking to them. Another is "power", just as adults like to have control over things. So do kids. They like to have a sense of control and power. They see you being the boss over them every day, so they want to be the boss once in awhile. It's great to watch kids get a book and sit in a chair; because they will hold the book as a teacher does and they will talk about it as if they are talking to the kids. They are imitating you. Another goal that they have is "revenge". Now, this can be for real or perceived hurts. Maybe a child hurts another child on accident. They may not understand that it is an accident, so they want revenge. They do this to try to gain a sense of importance. Another is "inadequacy". Children will withdraw for fear of failure. They will avoid stressful situations and they won't try new things. now, it's believed that each goal fulfills an emotional or social need. For instance, if a child feels that he is not getting enough attention at home, he very well may bring that to the classroom; even though you give him just as much attention as the other children. Each needs to be addressed with a different goal from you. For instance, if they want attention, that's probably the thing you shouldn't give them. They would be thinking "Hey, I got what I wanted.""