Mental health articles

Children Bad Behavior Problems • Reassure the family (in the presence of the child) that the behaviour problems are common and are not because the child is ‘bad’.
• The main treatment is to explain the rules of disciplining children . Good behaviour should be praised or rewarded, while bad behaviour should be disciplined. The
discipline must be clear and consistent so that all adults behave in the same way towards the children; violence and abuse are the least effective ways. Discipline should be carried out
immediately after bad behaviour.
• Discipline needs patience and time to work. Do not expect miracles. Discipline is especially difficult if there are other family problems, such as marital problems. If there are, you may need to work on these as well.
• With the permission of the parents, share the problems with elders in the family or with friends.
If the child’s teachers are worried, talk to them about why the child is misbehaving.
• Do not use medicines even if you feel that the child needs to be ‘calmed’.
• If the child has problems with learning or maintaining attention, think of the possibility of dyslexia or hyperactivity.
• See the family every two weeks. At each meeting, review the child’s behaviour. If there is no improvement, find out why not. Often, the reason is because the agreement made by the parents and child is not being observed.

How a behaviour contract can be negotiated. A health worker asks the son in a family what he wants his parents to allow him to do, and what he is prepared to do for them. The health worker tells the family that it is important to know that their son will behave in a manner that he copies from them.
Therefore, if they hit or shout at him, he will learn that this is how he should behave when he is angry.
The health worker would finish by inviting the family to come again in two weeks to see how they have managed to follow the contract.

 

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• Why do children behave badly?
• How To React When Your Child’s Friend Is Rude In Your House

Tags: bad behavior, children