Problematic Behavior of Children - Research Paper Example

Abstract There has been comprehensive research concerning the issue of problematic behavior in children in many educational institutions. It has been established through research that there are many factors that cause these behavioral problems. The theoretical framework highlights of the main issues that most of the research has been based on. There are also various problems that most of the researchers have not addressed. These have been noted in order to emphasize on the importance of putting these aspects in to consideration. Scholarly articles have been used to provide information concerning earlier research on this topic. The discussion and conclusion focus on the gaps existing in this field of research. Introduction Children compose part of the human population that is highly vulnerable. Parents are usually the people that are in charge of their activities as well as their welfare. They are commonly referred to as “people who have not attained the legal age of consent” by many bodies and organizations that fight for the rights of the children including governments (Berk L. E. 2006 pp.45-47). Under normal growth, they misbehave now and again. Parents and guardians are faced with the challenge of correcting them and teaching them the right direction. Some time it requires the parents to use various forms of punishment in order to facilitate change in behavior. However, it does not work all the time. In school, teachers also have the obligation of ensuring the children act responsibly in order to study, pass exams and become responsible citizens (Shamoo A and Resnik D. 2003 pp.89-92). In order for teachers to succeed in maintaining discipline in children, it is important for them to be aware of a wide range of ideas and techniques applicable in managing children in the classroom which assist in managing problematic behavior. The ability to merge a private viewpoint of group supervision and describing the insinuation of that personal philosophy on classroom performance for problematic children is of utmost importance. Supplementing this with the capability of enumerating a variety of methods and customs helps in minimizing challenging behavior and ensuring that good behavior in the classroom. More over, various structures of resolving conflicts amongst problematic children as well as the identification of societal and governmental resources that can assist in correction of behavior helps in promoting the administration of discipline to students (Williamson, J.B., Karp, D.A., Dalphin, Gray, P.S. 1982 pp. 98-102). The time for teaching is usually disrupted as the teacher tries to find ways of disciplining the disobedient children. The other children are usually disadvantaged due to the wastage of time that results from the teacher being engaged in disciplining the defiant ones. Some times it becomes overwhelming to teachers especially if the unruly students have been able to influence the properly behaved ones, or if the latter feel unsafe when they point out to the teacher regarding the actions of their counterparts. Successful learning and a triumphant future is usually threatened as a result of lack of adherence to instructions which are meant to facilitate learning. Studies show that teachers usually lose more than 5 hours in a week while trying to collect the badly behaved children. Urban schools are the worst affected by this problem (Pilbeam, S. and Corbridge, M. 2006 pp. 113-117). The time lost is usually reflected in the decline in the overall performance of children. In many cases, only a few children cause time wasting through their anti-social behaviors. However, the teacher can not ignore their impact on the classroom practice. More over, their defiance can be contagious amongst the other children, not forgetting that they too are children who need to be corrected and guided. The teacher has to fulfill his/her obligation of providing guidance to all children including the badly behaved in order to ensure that in future, children can not blame their failure on lack of guidance. They usually employ the available tools to help them in changing the children’s conduct. In order to manage the problematic children, it is important that the teacher understands the causative factors of bad behavior (Hammersley M 1993 pp. 45-47). This paper seeks to identify the major causes of problematic behavior in children. It begins with a theoretical framework which gives an analysis of this research field. It presents abstract theories regarding the problems as well as concerns for motivation towards the challenging behavior of children encountered in schools today. The causative factors associated with bad behavior in children obtained from scholarly articles and publications are discussed extensively in the scholarly works section. The discussion gives an analysis, integration and interpretation of the learning outcomes from the literature obtained through scholarly articles and publications. The conclusions have been drawn from the understanding of the existing literature in regard to the subject matter. Theoretical Framework So far, many researchers have conducted research regarding children and problems which facilitate problematic behavior in school. However, children continue to be problematic in school. Parents and teachers usually feel upset by the badly behaved children since they would like to deal with a group that is properly behaved, mainly because they know the importance of good behavior in the growth and development of children. According to Berk L. E. (2006 p. 28), “Disorganized homes are the major source of badly behaved children in schools”. Their anti-social behavior is usually a major threat especially when they grow older and join the upper classes in school. Worst of all is the behavioral influence of these children to others who are disciplined. Due to the fact that they always seek the support of others, they can easily influence the well behaved children in to engaging in unruly activities (Martin B. 1993 pp. 56-59). Solutions to issues surrounding bad behavior in children have not yet been established through research. While teachers try to find ways of addressing the irresponsible behaviors, much is lost in terms of the available time for class work. Examinations setting does not consider the time lost in disciplinary actions. This raises concerns on the manner in which children learn, and the opportunity cost of attending a particular school than another. Problematic behavior triggers lack of interest in the well behaved children. It makes them feel the urge to be in another school than the one whereby so much time is lost in disciplinary activities. Teachers have to compress their time in order to recover that which is lost, leading to hasty teaching in order to cover the syllabus. This affects their overall performance, which calls for measures to ensure that schools maintain well behaved children. There are gaps that exist in this research field necessitating more research in order to assist teachers to learn how to deal with problematic behavior of children (Berk L. E. 2006 pp 67-71). Reasons why Children Misbehave Models of Explaining Anti-Social Character Researchers have come up with models that can be used in explaining anti-social character. These models are mainly based on the individual features and societal aspects which are a major determinant of the character of a child. They are mainly manifested in the family setting where the child is brought up, thereby influencing his/her emotional characteristics. Such factors are usually unfavorable to normal growth. The child is usually exposed to adverse situations that cause fear, anger, anxiety, hopelessness and violence. Too much poverty is a recipe for anxiety. The child feels threatened by lack of basic needs, and therefore does not feel comfortable in the midst of other children who can afford what he lacks. He remains isolated and is easily downcast by the slightest provocation which he most likely views as an abuse. In self defense, it is easy for such a child to act violently. This is also evident in a child who has suffered the problems of being brought up by divorced parents. Parents being the main players in demonstrating love that should be emulated by children impact on the behavior of their children negatively especially when they are divorced (Martin B. 1993 pp. 26-33). Genetic Factors A number of reasons that explain the reasons why children misbehave exist. Understanding the reasons can help teachers and parents to assist the child to develop positively in studies. The behaviors that are referred to as bad include; improper use of language when communicating with teachers or fellow schoolmates, violent behavior against other children as well as the teacher, property destruction, assuming ownership of other people without permission, telling lies, uncooperative behavior in class work such as refusal to do homework and others such as truancy. These undesirable behaviors may be deliberate or unintentional. The teacher can easily distinguish between the two. There are many factors associated with misbehavior in children. Genetics are known to play a significant role in the behavior of children. The child may be badly behaved due to inheritance from one of the parents who was generally badly behaved in school as a school boy/girl. This is one of the worst forms of misbehavior that is hard to deal with. The character of the child is inborn and therefore it might take long to change it. Under such a situation, the child fails to understand the reason for punishment or even fails to identify his/her mistakes (Kiriakos Xeniditis, Ailsa Russell & Declan Murphy pp. 109-116). The manifestation of bad behavior that is attributed to genes in children has been proofed to be as a responsive to the environmental factors affecting growth of the child. If the genetic constitution directs the behavior of a child towards unacceptable behaviors at school such as problems with controlling anger and temperament, such behavior may be amplified by environmental factors which accelerate its manifestation in the child. Exposure to environments which are bound to cause agitation and anger in childhood may end up creating a permanent behavioral change in the child. It becomes difficult to change this kind of behavior by simply punishing the child (Williamson, J.B., Karp, D.A., Dalphin, Gray, P.S. 1982 pp. 66-72). In fact, punishment may end up escalating the situation. Parents may facilitate the occurrence of such behavior through early exposure of the child to adverse situations. Getting used to such circumstances makes it hard for the child to differentiate between harmonious living and chaotic lifestyles. A mere provocation of the child by fellow classmates may be detrimental in triggering unnecessary reactions. Such children are usually involved in physical confrontations with classmates as well as teachers. It is not their size that determines the situations under which they react. Rather, it is their temperament which can force them in to undesirable situations (Berk L. E. 2006 pp 77-81). Drug Abuse Drug and substance abusing parents are also a major drawback in the child’s behavioral development. Some time a child may turn out to be violent not because of inborn characteristics but because of the environment in which he/she grew. Growing in a drug abusing family exposes children to violence that mainly comes as a result of over consumption of alcohol. Gender based violence is usually manifested in alcoholic couples where either one or both are alcoholic. Since alcohol reduces the reasoning capacity, it is not unusual for the drunken parents to engage in physical confrontation in the presence of the children. Perpetual fighting in the view of children instills in them a mentality that fighting in parents is a usual thing. At first, they tend to be traumatized but with time, they get used since most of the time the parents later reconcile when drunkenness ceases (Goodman, A. 2007 pp.87-91). The children may develop the aggressiveness against other children due to such kind of parenting. With this understanding, it is easy for a social worker to handle such children. Substance abuse in parents may also induce a sense of secrecy amongst children. The child may be afraid of revealing the family problems especially if the parent abuses drugs that are illegitimate. The children may even lie to social workers or teachers and it may be difficult with them to guide the child in class. Lying becomes a common phenomenon for such a child. For the necessary interventions to be developed, it is important that the teachers to understand the parental background of the child. The parenting style will enable them to understand how to approach the issues concerning children with peculiar behavior. Several characteristics that are usually exhibited by children may actually be due to the family social setting somewhat than rebelliousness. It would therefore be wrong to approach the issue without understanding the parenting style used to bring up the child (Forester, D. & Harwin, J. 2003 pp. 65-68). Drug abuse may affect the child’s capacity to determine what is wrong or right through lack of guidance from the parents. It is of utmost importance for the parents to offer this guidance in order for the children to understand the best way through which they can become successful in their adulthood. While under the influence of drugs, it is difficult for the children to be convinced that drug abuse is not good. Teachers need to know this in order to develop the most appropriate approach for the children who lack parental guidance. This is because if they do not learn how to escape the trap of drug addiction like their parents, they may end up abusing drugs which adversely affect mental growth. This is another cause of undesirable behavior in children. It has been proofed through research that some school going children abuse drugs at a very early age. Boys are worst hit by this practice, with alcohol and smoking leading as the major drugs that are abused. Intoxicated children are usually truant and easily infuriated. They tend to release their anger through naughtiness, yelling, crying, using abusive language and threatening others. According to BBC News (June 5th 2003), “The lives of more than 350,000 British children are being blighted because their parents are drug users”. The impact of drug abuse and parenting capacity is adverse. Children turn out to be offensive in behavior, unsuccessful, of poor health. They usually shy away from sharing their experiences with any one. They usually suffer from psychological and emotional stress. The teacher can be able to identify a child who is bound to be badly behaved in later years by observing characteristics such as defiance while still in a lower class. Knowledge Bad behavior may also be as a consequence of lack of knowledge in the child. The child may not recognize the significance of certain behaviors on others. For example a child who views programs that are inclusive of violent activities on television may tend to think that that is a proper way of life. This is usually easy to correct through guidance. Rules are also known to cause bad behavior in children. Some times they may be so strict that they end up causing anger amongst the children. It is usually a common reaction that has been found to be manifested in all humans. They are known to be defiant where they are strictly being controlled towards a particular behavior ((Williamson, J.B., Karp, D.A., Dalphin, Gray, P.S. 1982 pp. 77-81). For example on insisting on children waking up extremely early in the morning to study may become a recipe to defiance. In order to prevent this, flexibility in the rules can be practiced, and it has been proved to be effective in reducing disobedience in children. Defiance also arises as a result of the feeling of unfair treatment in children. This generates anger and frustration. Adults play a major role in influencing the negative perception of children especially when they are stressed. Teachers or parents may become hostile to the children due to external factors affecting them. Children feel treated unfairly especially when such behavior in the adults is done repeatedly. They tend to get angry and disobedient (Horwarth, J. 2001 pp. 18-27). External Factors Teachers need to understand that their behavior towards the children may generate negative responses and therefore avoidance of influence of their character by external factors while dealing with children is necessary. On the other hand, the work load that is to be tackled by the children can create a negative attitude towards the administration. Children learn continuously in school, with a variety of subjects and other activities to tackle. Each subject has particular demands in form of assignments, class work coupled with outdoor activities. Due to the limited time available for learning, teachers end up giving the children assignments and other academic activities that are usually too much for them. Lack of time to rest and socialize makes the children to feel overburdened and eventually fail to complete some of the tasks. It is important to ensure that the tasks that children are allocated are easy to accomplish. Too much work load has been cited as one of the major causes of problematic behavior in adolescents, which mainly lead to strikes in school (Howe, D. 1999 pp. 86-91). Schools are places where children from various family backgrounds and cultures meet. Some of the children have been known to instill fear in others thereby causing them to cease from doing certain things that they have been doing. Bullying in adolescents has been cited as a major cause of truancy in schools. Due to the fear instilled in a child by others, he/she may fail to attend school without an explanation. Such children are usually threatened to an extent that they fear explaining their ordeal to parents or teachers for fear of being harassed by their colleagues. Since they do not explain their truancy, punishment only aggravates their torment and it is most likely for them to drop out of school. It is necessary to get the root cause of such a problem before engaging in administering punishment to the child. Most adults turn to punishing children after identifying that they have misbehaving. However, punishment has been proofed to have many side effects on the child especially if not properly administered. Some forms of punishments are severe to the extent of hurting the child physically. The most commonly used form of punishment is corporal punishment. Due to the pain caused by caning, it is assumed that the punishment will serve as a reminder to the individual on the consequences of doing wrong (Kroll, B. And Taylor, A. 2003 pp. 34-37). Punishment Punishment of children may some times escalate misbehavior in children. Due to the fear of getting punished, the children may tend to lie in order to escape the punishment. All that they do is to make sure that they are not found out. Continuous lying may make them to develop deceptive character in school and back home. They can also sneak out of school in order to avoid punishment, which may eventually lead to truancy. If they have no courage to sneak, the easiest way to escape is to shift the guilt on others. The children therefore get used to failure of taking responsibility of their actions (Martin B. 1993 pp. 66-69). When they get used to punishment, they can not perform well in situations where they realize are not punishable. It makes them to develop a negative attitude towards authorities. This is usually a problem that makes children to be responsible only in circumstances where the adult or teacher is present. In such cases, punishment can not improve the behavior of the children. Rather, it encourages irresponsible behavior in hiding. Teachers usually feel frustrated when they come to realize that the children have been misbehaving in their absence. This explains the significance of ensuring that the children appreciate the importance of good behavior in the presence or absence of adults rather than putting punishment in the fore (Howe, D. 1999 pp. 78-83). The existence of a bad relationship between adults and children is also known to be a factor that causes disobedience in children. This mainly arises as a result of punishment. The child does not feel free to communicate with the teacher and therefore the adults can not know what the children need. The children tend to pay attention to the teacher because of fear rather than the interest to learn. Under such circumstances, the children will always be wishing that the teacher moves out of the classroom which is the only time they can be free. This is a recipe for irresponsible behavior, and mostly the children begin imitating the teacher rather than trying to synthesize whatever he was teaching (Forester, D. & Harwin, J. 2003 pp 96-99). Transition Period One other factor that has been identified to cause problematic behavior is the transition between living with parents and remaining at school for a substantial period. The child may fail to understand why the parent has to leave him/her in a strange place with strange people. The feeling of desertion in the first days at school may cause depression in the child, leading to the desire to leave the institution and go back home. This usually occurs in children who have spent a greater part of their stay at home with parents (Kiriakos Xeniditis, Ailsa Russell & Declan Murphy pp. 109-116). They are usually so much attached to their parents that they can not understand why they have to leave them for the grater part of the day. If the child is not assisted to get acquainted with the new life, he might develop a negative attitude towards education and the school in general. Such kind of feeling may culminate in truancy and misbehavior. These are mainly triggered by the strong desire by the child to return home where he feels comfortable. When parents fail to welcome this idea, the child tends to find other places where he can hide until the appropriate time to go home. Teachers and parents who understand the problems involved in transition are capable of creating enthusiasm in learning (Berk L. E. 2006 pp. 35-39). Discussion and Conclusion The understanding by parents and teachers on the causes of irresponsible behavior in children is significant in assisting the adults to help children to take the right direction in education. Problematic behavior in children requires the guardians and teachers to understand the various risk factors that pose a threat to learning institutions in regard to children. Lack of understanding amongst teachers and parents is a recipe to problematic behavior. Children by themselves are not problematic in nature. Even the in born problematic characteristics can be changed through proper guidance of the children. It is important to understand that punishment is not the only way that can be used to rectify bad behavior in children. In most instances, it may end up escalating the problem. The transition period between life with parents as a toddler and school life is sensitive in the child’s development. It is important that the teachers help the child to adapt to the new life and appreciate learning new things. Without this, the child will have a negative opinion in regard to new life at school. The environment in which the child is brought up, exposure of the child to chaotic environment, genetic factors and improper handling in school are some of the major factors that have been identified to cause problematic behavior. Cooperation between parents and parents and teachers can help in alleviating these problems. Bibliography 1. Berk L. E. 2006. Child Development: 7th Edition, Allyn and Bacon. 2. Forester, D. & Harwin, J (2003) Parents Who Misuse Drugs and Alcohol: Effective Assessments and Interventions in Social Work and Child Protection. Chichester: Wiley. 3. Goodman, A. (2007) Social Work with Drug and Substance Mis-users. Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd. 4. Hammersley M 1993. Social Research: Philosophy, Sociology and Practice Sage. Sociological Methods & Research journal, vol. 7, 56-60, California University Press. 5. Horwarth, J (2001) The Child’s World: Assessing Children in Need. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 6. Howe, D. (1999) Attachment Theory, Child Maltreatment and Family Support: A Practice and Assessment Model. Basingstoke: Palgrave. 7. Kroll, B. and Taylor, A. (2003) Parental Substance Misuse and Child Welfare. London: Jessica Kinsley Publishers. 8. Martin B. 1993. Sociological Research Methods: An Introduction, 2nd edition Macmillan. 9. Pilbeam, S. and Corbridge, M. 2006. Contemporary Ethics in Practice. 3rd ed., Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. 10. Shamoo A and Resnik D. 2003. Responsible Conduct of Research New York: Oxford University Press. 11. Williamson, J.B., Karp, D.A., Dalphin, Gray, P.S. 1982. The Research Craft: An Introduction to Social Research Methods, Little, Brown and Company, Boston. 12. Xeniditis K., Russell A. & Murphy D. 2001. Management of People with Challenging Behavior Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, vol. 7, 109–116. Read More