empoweringchildren.org

Are we parents attentive to whether our children have stopped coming to us with their problems? Are we aware that they have ceased coming to us to whine and complain? Are we aware that they seem to be evasive in their communication and non-forthcoming? Do we notice any strange behavior? Do we realize that they begin to seek attention not the usual or proper way?

We also wish to challenge parents to appraise the situation regarding the way they interact with their children. We wish that parents examine pertinent questions regarding how their children’s wellbeings are being taken care of.

It is rather disturbing that many parents are not vigilant on the activities and struggles of their children and are therefore oblivious to the troubles their children may be in. And, they do not seem to understand their children and hence not being able to empathized with them. Read the rest of this entry »

Aggression in young children is a common problem that is quite natural and normal, but most parents feel alone and embarrassed when dealing with it. There are lots of ideas and options for taking positive constructive action to improve the situation, but the results are not quickly obvious, since it involves young children who lack maturity and self-control skills.

WHAT TYPE OF PROBLEM IS IT?  Part of the problem belongs to the Child, because the child is angry, and part of the problem belongs to the Parent, because the child is expressing the anger aggressively, which is a safety issue. While the problem is mostly a Parent problem, the parent’s goal is for the child to eventually become mature enough to resolve similar emotions appropriately in the future.

WHY? Prior to the end of the transitional phase, around age four and five, children are still in the process learning to manage their bodily functions and impulses. Children who have high levels of testosterone (primarily but not exclusively boys and “tomboy” girls) often have difficulty managing their anger energy. Since they experience a strong chemical change when they are angry, they experience their anger not only as an emotion but as a source of energy they can’t bottle. The energy must come out somehow, so our job as parents is to help it come out in constructive ways, rather than destructive ways.

Ideally, we want children to learn how to manage their own anger and do so in a mature, responsible way. When children are young and inexperienced, it can be difficult to teach them how to manage their anger constructively. Read the rest of this entry »