Mental health articles

dealing with bad behaviour in children How to deal with this problem
Questions to ask the family or friends
• What is the problem? Where, when and with whom does the bad behaviour occur? A parent may just say that the child is behaving badly. Find out what this means.
• Since when have you noticed this? How has it affected the family? The child’s studies? The longer it has lasted, the more serious the problem is likely to be.
• Why do you think the child is behaving this way? What do you do when the child behaves like
this? Find out how the parents discipline the child. Ask both parents this question separately, since this may reveal a different attitude or method of discipline.
• Do you hit the child? How often? With what? Violent discipline is likely to make the behaviour problem worse.
• What are you willing to do to change the situation? What would you like your child to do to change the situation?
Questions to ask the child
• Do you feel there is a problem with your behaviour? What is the problem? The child will have
heard her parents complain about her. Now give her a chance to respond.
• Do you feel upset with your parents? Why? Finding out about difficulties from the child’s viewpoint can help identify a solution.
• Have you been fighting with other children? Or getting in trouble at school?
• What are you willing to do to change the situation? What would you like your parents to do to change the situation?
These questions to the parents and the child will indicate how far they are prepared to go to achieve peace in the home.

Special interview suggestions dealing with bad behaviour in children
Most child behaviour problems are related to the family environment.
Interview the child and family members together. Observe
how they react to one another. You may notice anger between the
parents and the child. When a parent is speaking, the child’s
facial expressions may tell you something about how he feels
about what is being said. The child may be defiant or sad. Always talk to him as if his account is just as important as that of the parents.

Tags: bad behaviour, children