Top 10 Smart Strategies To Reduce Bad Behavior In Children

Disciplining a child is often a challenge for parents. This is especially true with a child experiencing behavior problems. Regardless of whatever strategies we try some children truly have challenging behaviors. Many behaviors are natural part of development. Throughout various stages of development a child goes through emotional changes. At times they tend to become aggressive. However, there are some good discipline strategies to manage your child’s behavior. Most of the kids can benefit when the adults in their lives change in the way they react, respond, or interact with the kids

Good discipline strategies can help you to manage behavior of children effectively. Read on about the following ten simple strategies that you can start implementing right now to encourage positive behavior in your child and make your relationship with your child smoother. All of these strategies are positive in nature and will help you establish a stronger connection with your child in a way that will boost their confidence, self-respect, and respect for you as well. We all know that children with good confidence and self-respect show better cooperation and make healthier choices.

1. Follow Time Out

This strategy works great as a punishment. When you see your children misbehave, ask them to leave the place and sit alone. Set a timer for the time out period and when the time out period is over, do not mention anything about his/her misbehavior. Let the kids find out the reason themselves why they were sent for the time out. During the time-out period keep an eye on them or be near them but do not talk to them. They will figure out their faults and try not to repeat those mistakes.

2. Don’t Be Too Liberal

When you see children continue with their bad behavior, take back all their rights and liberties they enjoy. Make them understand that if they want the good things back they will have to behave properly and must listen to you. You must not agree to their terms unless they listen to you.

3. A Strict NO To Physical Abuse

It is natural that parents tend to lose cool when they find their kids misbehaving. But in no circumstances should a parent adhere to physical or verbal abuse. Shouting or yelling or spanking is not a quality of good parenting. Physical or mental abuse may traumatize your child and can be detrimental. So, do not show your frustration to them. If you find yourself shouting at your child, try to figure out why you show your anger. First, try learning strategies to calm yourself down. This will help you handle your child’s bad behavior as well. Be calm while dealing with your child. It definitely has a positive impact on your child and they try to understand and learn from their mistakes.

4. Practice planned Ignoring

Kids love to draw attention. They knowingly misbehave just to draw your attention. In such cases, the best way is to ignore them. Planned ignoring is not paying attention when children behave in an intentional way. Planned ignoring works best when you consistently ignore your child’s mis behavior. But it’s best not to ignore when children are struggling with strong emotions. Ignore children only for a short period and not more than thirty seconds for toddlers and no more than a couple of minutes for older children.

5. Reward for Good Behavior

Kids love rewards. Take advantage of rewarding to turn it into a fruitful endeavor to teach your kids proper discipline. Rewards are a great way to encourage your child’s good behaviors. The rewards that happen right after a behavior are best. When you reward your child for his/her good behavior it can create a positive impact. Rewards can help your child want to do more good things.

6. Negotiate

Negotiating is one of the most important life skills. By definition, negotiating means coming to an agreement through discussion. Simply put, negotiating is all about finding a middle or common ground. When it comes to children, they often try to negotiate with us to get the result they want. So to inculcate good habits in your child, you can negotiate with them. Good parenting is having the privilege of setting rules while also pay attention to what your kids have to say.

7. Be Positive

It’s not a good idea to point out at your kids’ negative things always. Look at their positive side and praise them for good things. Try to present your child’s negative traits also in a positive way. For example, when your child starts arguing with you or other family members, instead of telling him/her “Stop arguing”, you can say, “you can be nice”. So, try bringing the positive things to their notice.

8. Observe your behavior too

Did you ever give a thought as to why your child misbehaves? You are definitely your child’s role model for both good and bad reasons. So the rule of thumb is to learn to control your feelings. Be kind, and always try to set yourself as an example to your child with your good conduct.

9. Always set Reminders

Children constantly give excuses when they are rebuked for their mistakes. Remind them about the set guidelines so they cannot give an excuse next time.

10. Guide them while they make Choices

Never lose an opportunity to teach your child what is right and wrong. Train them in such a way that they keep themselves aloof from bad choices.

Final thoughts: Coping up with your child’s unruly and bad behavior is part of child-rearing. Sometimes you can face difficulties; however, you need to handle it skillfully. Follow these simple yet smart strategies to tune your child’s behavior. But when your child’s behavior is challenging and you feel something is not right with his or her behavior, you can seek a professional’s help. Psychotherapists specialize in behavioral therapy that helps parents and children learn how to promote desirable behaviors and reduce unwanted behaviors.