Children being young and yet unaccustomed to the social norms might sometimes be seen as misbehaving or not being at their best behavior at all times. Where there is smoke there is fire; similarly nothing happens without a reason. Behind every toddler tantrum and every episode of acting out by a child, there is a very genuine reason and if parents, care givers or educators would attempt just a little to go to the bottom of it they will understand the reason as well as devise a method to prevent it in the future.
Among various reasons why children might be seen as misbehaving, some will be discussed here on this blog with a positive solution which might be of benefit for most people.
REASON 1: LACK OF PURPOSEFUL ACTIVITY
This might come as shock for some readers but its quite true. Some of you might even say, "Our kids are jumping around all the time, so how come there is still lack of activity for them." However the fact still remains the same, lack of purposeful activity is one reason why children show disruptive behavior at home, day care or school. Here stress has been laid on not just on activity but actually on purposeful activity. Now it might be a little easier for you to understand. There is a difference between mere activity and an actually purposeful activity.
Children might be seen to be active all the time, sometimes doing things which might be classified as misbehavior, acting out or disruptive or sometimes even reckless behavior e.g. painting or drawing on the walls at home or at school, breaking their toys in an unsuccessful attempt to put them back together, making paper planes during lessons, drawing on their notebooks instead of using them properly, hiding other people's stuff and enjoying it, making cartoon caricatures of a teacher, mixing up stuff in the kitchen and ruining most powdered stuff. These are just a few mild examples of what children do. These may cause people to label them as naughty, disobedient, reckless or rude. As a punishment or repercussion they might be asked to do tedious chores, repeat homework activities or just sit quietly and watch TV meaninglessly for hours at a stretch while all the time ignoring or simply being unable to pin point the underlying problem.
One of the problems is: "lack of purposeful activity".
Children are undoubtedly active beings. There are not at phase where they would want to just sit around. They are active because:
The simplest possible answer is, make them feel a sense a achievement as result of the activity and they will definitely won't disappoint you.
For example, enjoying a meal however simple or small after they have made it themselves. Receiving praise and appreciation on anything they have done like making their bed or folding the laundry will act as a huge incentive for them to take up more purposeful activities instead of wasting their energies on unnecessary stuff.
CONCLUSION:
The answer to this million dollar question, "Why children might misbehave?" probably would have appeared to be quite simple to you. If you ponder over it, its not that simple. Children need age and developmentally appropriate purposeful activities to help them feel a sense of achievement and if they are made to feel that useful activities are just for adults and what they are doing has no meaning then they would certainly act out at one point or another. Its up to the parents and educators to guide them appropriately and they will surely utilize their potential on productive things.
There are various other reasons for acting out. They will be discussed in detail, one by one on this blog. Stay tuned :)
Among various reasons why children might be seen as misbehaving, some will be discussed here on this blog with a positive solution which might be of benefit for most people.
REASON 1: LACK OF PURPOSEFUL ACTIVITY
This might come as shock for some readers but its quite true. Some of you might even say, "Our kids are jumping around all the time, so how come there is still lack of activity for them." However the fact still remains the same, lack of purposeful activity is one reason why children show disruptive behavior at home, day care or school. Here stress has been laid on not just on activity but actually on purposeful activity. Now it might be a little easier for you to understand. There is a difference between mere activity and an actually purposeful activity.
Children might be seen to be active all the time, sometimes doing things which might be classified as misbehavior, acting out or disruptive or sometimes even reckless behavior e.g. painting or drawing on the walls at home or at school, breaking their toys in an unsuccessful attempt to put them back together, making paper planes during lessons, drawing on their notebooks instead of using them properly, hiding other people's stuff and enjoying it, making cartoon caricatures of a teacher, mixing up stuff in the kitchen and ruining most powdered stuff. These are just a few mild examples of what children do. These may cause people to label them as naughty, disobedient, reckless or rude. As a punishment or repercussion they might be asked to do tedious chores, repeat homework activities or just sit quietly and watch TV meaninglessly for hours at a stretch while all the time ignoring or simply being unable to pin point the underlying problem.
One of the problems is: "lack of purposeful activity".
Children are undoubtedly active beings. There are not at phase where they would want to just sit around. They are active because:
- they want to learn,
- they are developing and movement and activity are essential for all types of developmental processes going on in their bodies from physical development to mental development. Now lets understand the true meaning of "purposeful" here.
"An activity is purposeful only if it caters to some developmental need(s) of the child. "
So how do we know whether an activity is catering to the development need of the child or not. How do we introduce that activity to the child and how to encourage him to do it? Interestingly, anything in which the child is learning some everyday skill is, purposeful. That skill does not necessarily have to be a college level certifiable skill. The skill may include but is not necessarily school work, writing activities or taking tuition for a subject. It can be something useful on a daily basis.
It is important that the activities are:- age appropriate and
- interesting for the child
Examples: - For example, children can develop hand eye coordination and fine motor skills by cutting their own vegetables in the kitchen or fixing up a salad or a sandwich. Older children may even like to cook or bake as well.
- These things may range from putting the clothes in the laundry machine or simply folding up and putting away clean clothes.
- Working in the garden to remove weeds, plant new seeds or simply water the plants. Older children might even like mowing the lawn for some extra pocket money!
- Simply playing with other children on a play date or in a play group helps children develop social and emotional skills including sharing, taking turns and conflict resolution.
- Arts and craft activities in which the child is required to use most of his senses and pay a lot of attention on detail are also good for developmental purposes as well as preventing them from misbehaving.
The simplest possible answer is, make them feel a sense a achievement as result of the activity and they will definitely won't disappoint you.
For example, enjoying a meal however simple or small after they have made it themselves. Receiving praise and appreciation on anything they have done like making their bed or folding the laundry will act as a huge incentive for them to take up more purposeful activities instead of wasting their energies on unnecessary stuff.
CONCLUSION:
The answer to this million dollar question, "Why children might misbehave?" probably would have appeared to be quite simple to you. If you ponder over it, its not that simple. Children need age and developmentally appropriate purposeful activities to help them feel a sense of achievement and if they are made to feel that useful activities are just for adults and what they are doing has no meaning then they would certainly act out at one point or another. Its up to the parents and educators to guide them appropriately and they will surely utilize their potential on productive things.
There are various other reasons for acting out. They will be discussed in detail, one by one on this blog. Stay tuned :)