Children need the right guidance and support to grow into intellectual and responsible adults. Encouraging a positive behaviour in your child is necessary and it needs to be done in a rightful way. With consistency, alertness and the measures given below, you can encourage a positive behaviour in your child:
- Set limits and rules for your child and ensure that he/she understand what is expected of them.
- Be a role model for your child and use your own behaviour to guide him/her.
- Praise your child often. Remember to acknowledge and compliment your child’s positive behavior on a customary basis.
- Always keep your promises. When you follow through on your promises, good or bad, your child learns to trust and respect you.
- Before you get involved in anything your child is doing – especially to say ‘no’ or ‘stop’ – ask yourself if it really matters. By keeping instructions, requests and negative feedback to a minimum, you create less opportunity for conflict.
- Keep your instructions simple and positive. If you can give clear instructions in simple terms, your child will know what is expected of him/her. For example, ‘Please shut the gate’ is better than ‘Don’t leave the gate open’.
- Stick to your word. If you give in when they are whining for something, you train them to do it more – even if you don’t mean to. ‘No’ means ‘no’, not ‘maybe’, so don’t say it unless you are ready to stick by it.
- Reduce the temptations around your child. To your child, your belongings may look like so much fun to play with – it may be hard for them to remember not to touch. Reduce their chances of exploring with your stuff by keeping it out of their sight.
- Active listening is another tool for helping your child cope with his/her emotions. When they feel you understand what they might be feeling, it makes them feel respected and comforted.
- Don’t tag your child as misbehaving or less intelligent, etc. You are not encouraging your child to do better, but rather demoralizing them by doing so.
