Dealing With Aggressive Children

Aggressiveness is a visible trait in small children. Aggressive kids tend to behave indifferently for the silliest of reasons, not only because they want to get the things done according to their will, but because many other reasons as well. For instance, they might be facing humiliation in school, when they are teased or called by names. Such a behavior in children is also triggered by bad experiences in life, ill treatment by parents, elder siblings or teachers or even a lack of love and attention. It is the responsibility of the elders to banish all the aggression in their children and make them disciplined and lovable. If you want to know how to deal with aggressive children, the tips given in the following lines will be handy.

Kids tend to imitate what they see and hear. At the growing stages, they are even more vulnerable to negative influences. They accept negative traits of other people much more quickly than the positive ones. The bad experiences, such as verbal and physical abuse during childhood, always remain in their mind. So, make sure that they grow up in an environment wherein they get to see and hear only good behavior. It is the parents' responsibility to show good behavior and act as a role model for small children. Do not do anything negative in front of your kids, because it would influence them to follow the same.  

 

Remember Newton's Third Law of Motion? 'To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction'. This applies to aggressive children as well. When they are scolded or disciplined very aggressively, they tend to hit back even more strongly. They might show their aggressiveness relentlessly, if you treat them in a very harsh manner. Rather, tactful discipline is the key to bring down the level of aggression in difficult children. Show them care and love, while disciplining them.

 

Imparting moral thoughts at an early age becomes essential while dealing with aggressive children. You need to teach them that becoming angry is okay, but becoming aggressive for no good reason is not acceptable. Avoid yelling if they get angry, but do maintain a firm voice. This is because yelling is also a form of aggression, which your kid might imitate, if you show such a behavior every time you are frustrated with his/her aggressiveness or are trying to discipline him/her.

 

Whenever your child becomes aggressive, give him/her enough time to calm down. This is especially applicable if your kid is showing such a behavior when he/she wants to get a thing done his/her way. Stay calm and cool headed for sometime, until he/she calms down and then approach him/her to explain that showing aggression is not the only way to get the things done. However, make sure that he/she doesn't reach the peak of anger and injure himself/herself or others.

 

Parents and teachers often think that sudden outburst of anger is a serious problem in aggressive children. In fact, such strong feelings should not be overlooked, rather recognized and treated with care. Do not consider aggressive children as problematic for everybody. Instead, take it as a challenge to correct your kids in the ways, which wouldn’t harm either their feelings or yours. You need to teach them the skill of expressing their feelings in acceptable ways.