Parents can influence their children’s behaviour by either ignoring it or punishing them to induce a behavioural change. The stronger the relationship with the child, the more influence we will have because our child will be more likely to seek our guidance, values, opinions, and support. We have to decide whether the behaviour of the child is age-appropriate or not.
Parents may prefer to use physical punishment (such as spanking) to prevent undesirable behaviour. The most important drawback to the present method is that although the punishment stops the bad behaviour for a short time, it doesn’t teach your child to vary his or her behaviour. Educating your child is just teaching him or her to settle on good behaviours. If your child doesn’t know honest behaviour, he or she is probably going to return to the bad behaviour. Physical punishment becomes less effective with time and may cause the kid to behave aggressively. The proper role of the parent is encouragement, support, and access to activities that enable the child’s psychological development. A child’s learning and socialization are mostly influenced by their family since the family is the child’s primary social group. Happy parents raise happy children. Parents can teach their children more by being good role models and by encouraging more rather than criticizing.
A child’s behaviour can be shaped by reinforcing positive punishment and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is the most effective method of shaping behaviour. Giving a child attention is a positive reinforcement and can be more effective. Another positive reinforcement is praise. Rewards also help in modifying behaviour. Positive reinforcement is usually a reward for positive behaviour to make sure that the child continues with the behaviour. Negative reinforcement is taking something unpleasant away in response to a stimulus to reinforce the good behaviour. To change the behavior parents can change the environment so that the child can be motivated. Every child is different, and parents need to modify their child’s expectations accordingly. Parents need to know their strengths and weaknesses, so they can recognize when they’re getting off track and learn how to get back on.
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The best thing to stop unwanted behaviour is to ignore it. This manner works best over a period of time. Once you want the behaviour to be prevented immediately, choose these methods – Ask the kid to try to do a task. Set a timer. If the task is completed before the timer rings, your child gets a gift. Write a brief list of excellent behaviours on a chart and mark the chart with a star whenever you see a great behaviour. After your child has earned a small number of stars, give him or her a gift. If you see your child playing quietly, solving a drag without fighting, learning, or reading a book, mark the chart. After a particular number of marks, give your child a gift.
Make a brief list of important rules and re-evaluate them together with your child. Rules should relate to safety, health, and the way to treat others. The fewer the principles, the less rule-breaking behaviour you’ll need to affect. Accept your child’s basic personality, whether it’s shy, social, talkative, or active. Basic personality is often changed a touch, but not considerably. Attempt to avoid situations which will make your child cranky, like becoming overly stimulated, tired, or bored. Don’t criticize your child ahead of people. Describe your child’s behaviour as bad, but don’t label your child as bad. Praise your child often when he or she deserves it.
Using the techniques above can help to form a more peaceful home environment. If you’re still having problems managing your child’s behaviour or your child has recently become more fearful, angry, or aggressive, meeting with a psychotherapist could also be helpful so as to explore the underlying reasons for the behaviours and to urge your child back on target.
