Definition of bad behavior : Behavior that is inappropriate, improper, incorrect, or unexpected. An act that is inappropriate, improper, incorrect, or unexpected. Indecorous behavior, or the state of being indecorous. Loutishness or rudeness
We all at some point in our lives struggled with someone with bad behavior and not only in children but in adults as well. I believe that behavior control starts at the toddler age, it helps them to better control their emotions and when your emotions are under control, your behavior will also be under control. Bad behavior starts at home and can also start at school if one does not have the proper knowledge to handle a child with bad behavior. In my BLOG we are going to look at some bad behaviors and also some knowledge to nurture challenging behavior within the early childhood classroom.
Common Childhood Behavior
I believe that challenging behavior differ from different age groups for example:
Pre-mobile infants
Crying to communicate needs
Cluster feedings or occasional increase in the need to eat
Mobile infants
Taking toys from others
Mouthing toys
Climbing or crawling on others
Knocking things down (block structures, etc.)
Stranger anxiety or refusing to go to unfamiliar adults
Toddlers
Biting (aggression towards other students)
Saying “No”
Getting into everything
High levels of activity; rarely sit still
Insisting on doing things independently (“I can do it by myself”)
Whining or crying
Claiming “Mine!” even when an item does not belong to them
Tantrums (temper tantrum out of frustration)
Defiance (refusing to join circle time, etc.)
Potty mouth (use of inappropriate language)
These are just a few challenges that we face not only as educators at school but parents at home as well.
How does bad behavior affect the student?
Students who engage in disruptive behavior frequently or consistently may experience even more negative outcomes. These students may be excluded from the classroom which means they miss important instructional and social opportunities. This often leads to students falling further behind their peers.
Lets talk about Joey!
I had a student called Joey in my classroom. He was actually a very smart young boy. Maybe the smartest in the class. He always wanted to be the first in line or the first to shout out an answer, but he wasn't obeying the class rules which were to raise your hand if you want to answer a question. He never wanted to sit still and give classmates a chance to answer. I am not saying that is a bad thing, but it's not the appropriate behavior. Not giving other students a chance to answer a question might raise other bad behavior such as classmates feeling excluded or thinking it is okay to shout out an answer and not obeying the rules. I did not punish Joey for his behavior but I did enforce the situation in a positive manner, after praising him for knowing the answer. Asking him politely to give others a chance or to raise his hand when he wants to answer a question. I also from time to time rewarded, not only him but I would include the whole class. For example, "If Joey obeys the rules today I have a surprise for everyone" not only does he feel more important and center of attention, the other students also helped him to behave. There was some days when he didn't behave then I still gave the other students who behaved a reward like 5 minutes extra play time outside, and with Joey I would keep him 5 minutes in the classroom and talk to him. Sometimes he would cry, but I will have a calm conversation with him and ask him if he thinks it's fair to punish the whole class for his mistake and he would understand my meaning and stop crying and actually apologize to me. I would thank him and give him a candy and tell him to not tell the others. So not only did I punish him for his behavior but I also made him feel special again by giving him a candy and thanking him for saying sorry.
The way Joey treated and listened to me was more effective than the way he treated my Co-teacher. When he had a tantrum I feel like it was the way the other teacher handled the situation, she would shout at him and tell him to go stand in the bathroom and he is not allowed to play with other students or with the toys. That just made him cry more and sometimes he would hit the teacher. We would get his behavior under control till Friday. Monday comes it's a gamble if he would have challenging behaviors again.
I asked Joey the one day what did he do over the weekend and he told me he was angry at his father because his father hit him. I felt really bad and I gave him a hug for some comfort, but there is also not much I could do about the situation because, I don't know the culture of this parent and I am not sure if Joey was the one who was having a bad behavior towards the father. That was when I realized, that is the reason Joey has a bad behavior at school because he does not get that love and attention he needs at home.
I used B.F. Skinner's Operant Conditioning theory to manage Joey's challenging behavior.
B.F. Skinner's Operant Conditioning
When the incident of challenging behavior ends and the child engages in appropriate behavior, provide positive attention to the child. The idea that behavior is determined by its consequences, be they reinforcements or punishments, which make it more or less likely that the behavior will occur again.
Read more about this theory: https://www.lifepersona.com/b-f-skinner-theory-of-behavior-and-operant-conditioning
How does Joey's and other students with challenging behavior affect the classroom?
Problematic behavior of students in the classroom causes destruction to the learning environment, teacher’s concentration and adversely affects social and educational level of the student. Present paper put forth the various reasons responsible for behavioral problems in school classrooms. The social and behavioral environment of a classroom can reflect the overall academic environment of the school broadly, and stress on the contributions of strategies or programs to improving student behavior by and large.
How can you address these behaviors?
Many behaviors can be addressed with a 3 step behavior intervention plan
behavior that leads to self-injury
task avoidance or attention seeking behaviors that lead to a serious and obvious dip in academic performance
maladaptive (or socially inappropriate) behavior
How can risky behavior be reduced?
Investigate the influence of self esteem and students participating in risky behavior. The impact of risky behavior in social, emotional, physical and spiritual Suggest practical solutions on how any of the youth risk behavior can be reduced.
Goals to be set for students with similar behavior challenges like Joey's!
Set a measurable goal that specifically addresses the problem and gives the student an alternative. Team members must clearly identify problem behaviors along with positive replacement behaviors in order to create an effective behavioral goal.
Determine the behavior's function
Identify and define problem and replacement behavior
Collect data
Identify the function of the behavior
Develop and implement a function-based intervention
Design a function-based intervention
Maximize intervention success
Implement the intervention
Evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention
Evaluate the intervention
Positive Incentives
I believe that students or children sometimes have to get punishment when misbehaving, but when you punish them be sure to punish them in a positive way that they don't end up growing hatred toward peers, school or teachers. Negative punishment will lead to the student acting out even worse or might not learn a lesson out of the punishment.
I trust in the these positive ways to curb bad behavior without punishment.
1. Change Your Reaction To Bad Behavior in Your Children
Children rarely ever misbehave on purpose or with malice. They may do so because they don’t understand that what they’re doing is wrong, or because they’ve learned that doing so gets them the attention they need, or because they’re just trying something out. So when you react with punishment to these innocent or non-malicious sources of misbehavior, children learn that they can be punished for just about anything, even things they don’t think are wrong. It creates an environment of fear. This is why changing your reaction to misbehavior first is an essential step in curbing bad behavior in a positive way. Here’s how to start:
Don’t Use Negative Reinforcement
It’s easy to impulsively provide negative reinforcement as a teaching method when your children misbehave. But research shows that negative reinforcement doesn’t work at all. Instead of helping a child improve their behavior, it’s likely to do almost nothing at all or even make that behavior worse!
Ignore Mild Acts of Bad Behavior in Children
When children misbehave because they want attention, they don’t care if the attention they receive is negative or positive. As long as they get the attention, they consider the action they performed to get it worth doing again. Little acts of rebellion that are harmless, like whining, making a fuss, or fiddling with things they shouldn’t, are ones you can safely ignore. Turn away and wait for your child to ask nicely for attention before you give them any, reinforcing that they cannot act out in order to get what they want!
Don’t Shout
Sometimes, on impulse, you may want to shout at a child who is misbehaving. Not only will this frighten many kids, but it’ll also be a way of giving attention to a child who may be misbehaving on purpose. Explosive reactions are scary but they’re also a signal that something is happening, and neither of those is a thing you want a child to associate with your shouting. Focus on teaching instead.
Use Natural Consequences
A lot of life’s actions have natural consequences, and these can teach children pretty well! Instead of punishing your children, allow natural consequences to be their teacher, with your presence around to explain and cement it into a teachable moment. For example, if a child leaves their toys outside even though they’ve been told not to, their toys may get dirty.
You will then point this out to your child and help them make the connection between their actions and the natural consequence, including the logical consequence that your child has to clean the toys now before they can be used again. This will help to show your child the natural result of their actions.
2. Model The Behavior You Want To See
Kids learn by copying their parents or guardian figures. They like to mimic the behavior that they witness. So if you want to curb bad behavior in children, make sure you avoid doing any of it yourself! Research has shown that kids learn well by observation in their early education years, so letting them see the positive behavior you want them to perform helps by:
Encouraging them to copy you and “be like you”, especially at a younger age.
Showing them as they grow up that you truly mean what you say and practice what you preach.
Giving kids a set of example behaviors that they can try to include in their everyday life, especially in a situation when they’re not sure what to do.
Reducing the time you have to spend on directly teaching them, giving you more time to guide them through the behaviors they’re naturally picking up.
How to Model Better Behavior?
You’ll have to be a good role model to curb bad behavior, and that can be difficult. As a parent, you’ll find that you have to learn to control your natural human impulses and actions. It’s more complicated than it looks to always behave well! So, in that vein, you should also be modeling ways to correct your behaviors when you perform harmful actions. You can do this by:
Being open about your flaws and showing your child that flaws are human and normal, then showing them how you work to improve yourself from these flaws so that you can be a better person.
Apologizing when you do something wrong, whether to the people around you or your children; make it clear that you respect your child and will apologize to them if you hurt them as much as they should apologize to you if they hurt you.
Showing how you forgive others and how you are forgiven so that your child knows that they can receive forgiveness if they apologize well, too.
Demonstrating the ways with which you make up for bad actions and help the people you’ve hurt to feel better.
3. Use Praise For Good Behavior
It seems like a no-brainer to praise kids when they behave in positive ways, but not many parents do this well!This lapse occurs because it’s easy to accidentally not notice when a child is behaving well – they’re quiet, out of your hair, and in no need of correction. But if you don’t give them attention while showcasing positive behavior, they’ll learn that negative behavior is the only way to grab you!
On top of that, studies show that the use of good praise has a positive effect on the behavior of a child by improving their growth and development, giving them the motivation to learn, and providing a reason to correct themselves. So, how can you correctly utilize praise? Here are some tips:
Try Your Best To Notice Good Behavior–Not Just Bad Behavior in Your Children
As previously mentioned, it’s easy to overlook good behavior because it’s what you expect and want. Misbehavior stands out, and little good acts don’t, after all. That’s why you need to make even more effort to pay attention to the good things! Keep an eye on your child and give them praise for their positive actions.
Don’t Be Stingy With Praise
While you shouldn’t exaggerate praise, you also shouldn’t treat it like a prize to be hard-won. Praise your child often and in small ways whenever you notice positive behavior, especially if that behavior is new. This kind word gives your child a clear indication of the desired behavior and establishes healthy, encouraging rapport in your bond.
Never Use Praise Sarcastically
Praise is supposed to be a solely good thing. Never something used to shame. Don’t say, “Oh, look who finally started doing the dishes. It only took you several hours!” for example. This lack will only leave a bitter taste and teach a child that they won’t receive genuine praise no matter what they do. Instead, provide sincere compliments, such as “I’m glad to see that you’re doing the dishes like I asked you to. Good job!”
Use Praise Instead Of Material Rewards
There’s nothing wrong with giving your child a material reward now and then, but using that as the primary reward method can lead to reliance on extrinsic motivation. You want your child to feel good about good behavior, not only to behave well because they’ll get something they want in exchange. Try to use praise much more than material rewards, and instead of using material items as rewards, give them as presents.
Remind Your Child That You Believe In Their Goodness
Children misbehave now and then, and when that happens, you can remind them of the positive and good behavior you know they’re capable. This reminder is a positive way to use praise to correct misbehavior. The goal is to direct your child towards positive thinking of themselves and their actions, so they feel encouraged to behave well.
My final thoughts on some positive ways to curb bad behavior in children without punishment
Punishment is a method that doesn’t work as well as we used to think when it comes to curbing bad behavior in children. Learn to use positive methods instead, such as changing your reaction to misbehavior, modeling desired behavior, and using praise for good behavior, can work much better in raising a well-behaved child!
While punishments may work to interrupt a behavior short term, they have potentially negative long-term effects, including causing children to feel bad about who they are which also makes them more likely to act out again, as well as creating an adversarial relationship between parent/teacher and child. There are also two different categories of consequences: natural consequences and logical consequences. Natural consequences typically don’t require any intervention by the parents. It’s just what occurred as a direct result of a child’s behavior. Logical consequences, however, are ones that parents impose on kids because of their bad behavior.
How to communicate with parents when a student has a challenging behavior!
There are 5 steps to use:
Begin the year by explaining how and when you'll keep in touch with them
Let parents know that you value their questions and concerns, It's important to decide when you want to take and return phone calls and emails and when you're available for school conferences, and to actually be available during those times.
Never feel pressured to make an important decision, evaluation, or assessment during a parent conference or conversation
Instead, be prepared to take some time to think and get back to the parent. For example, "You've made a great point, Mrs. Smith", and this is an important issue. I'd really like to give it some serious thought and get back to you on it.
Let parents know they can trust you
Be discrete. Avoid discussing students with other parents or engaging in any negative faculty-room talk. Also make this a rule for parent volunteers who spend time in the classroom. Particular situations remains in the classroom and confidential.
Assure parents that you will inform them immediately about any concerns you might have with regard to their child
Parents become extremely upset when the first sign of trouble comes in the form of a progress report halfway into the marking period or worse yet, on the report card itself. Always try to share even small concerns early on, rather than waiting and then dropping a bombshell.
When presenting a concern to parents, ALWAYS be ready to explain what strategies you've already used to address the issue and what new strategies you are considering.
Parents don't want concerns dropped in their laps without at least a tentative action plan, which you'll adjust based on their input.
That is it for today my wonderful people, stay tuned for more up coming advice on Early Childhood behaviorism and many more.
Jean-Claude Allen
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