Signal for help

[Tenille hockenbury]

Children show they need help by acting out. They will cry, whine, throw a tantrum, misbehave or disobey, act spoiled or bratty.

[Gale Coleman]

To some, when children show they need help by acting out, by crying, whining, throw tantrums, misbehaving or disobeying and or acting spoiled or bratty, they are being disrespectful, being defiant. But to some this is a normal part of growing up, and children who feel connected to their parents, who feel significant to them are going to be less bratty. And all children really want to please their parents, want them to feel proud, because children who feel good about themselves, who have self-efficacy, who feel that they matter, do not need to seek negative attention by being bratty, and if caregivers cultivate in the child all the good things of independence, self-reliance, responsibility and respect they will be less likely to act out. But I believe children of young ages don’t always understand this and the only way they understand how to show they need help is to act out.