Difficult child behaviors:
What is it?
- Sometimes children treat others' things carelessly because they don't know the rules about the object or get distracted while using it.
- A child playing on a caregiver's phone might drop it or touch it with sticky fingers
- When borrowing a toy or object, a child might drop it in the dirt or leave it somewhere and lose it
- Destructive behaviors might come from anger, frustration, or jealousy.
- A child frustrated by a hard puzzle or tricky toy might throw it onto the floor
- An angry child might hit a wall or throw the first thing they can find
- When another child has a toy that they want, a child may take it, throw it, or treat it carelessly
Where do they get this from?
- Carelessness usually is not purposeful. Children might not fully understand the rules, or they might get distracted by something else and forget to be careful with the object.
- Destructive behavior might happen during tantrums. It is a way to express big emotions that children don't know how to manage.
- Destructive behavior gets a lot of attention from parents. If the child is seeking negative attention, then destruction might be a way to get it.
- For infants and toddlers, destroying and acting careless with others’ things is a common behavior. It doesn't always mean they are angry. Sometimes a little destructiveness is ok- like knocking down a tall tower they built. Sometimes it is not ok- like knocking down a tall tower their brother built. It is up to the caregiver to teach them what’s ok and not ok!
