Difficult child behaviors:
What is it?
- Aggression usually starts with an emotion like annoyance, frustration, or even fear. Children may be unable to control these emotions. When feelings boil up inside, they come out as
- Tense or angry face and body language
- Snappish or aggressive tone of voice
- Throwing things
- Hitting, pushing, kicking, or biting
Where do they get this from?
- Everybody gets angry. Children differ in how quickly they feel annoyed or frustrated and how quickly those emotions turn into aggression. Temperament plays a big role in how quickly and how intensely they get angry.
- What children do when they get angry is learned either from trial and error or from watching what others do.
- They learn that some behaviors make them feel less angry, so they do those behaviors more.
- They might also learn that some behaviors get a big reaction from other people, so they do those behaviors more.
- Aggression also gives children a lot of control over others- adults, children, and pets- as all are a little afraid of them.
- Children who have experienced stress or traumatic events might experience a trauma cue, have a hard time controlling their reactivity and emotions, and jump into an angry outburst.
