Children speak foul language in public. Why? What to do? When is the best time to handle it? Dr Huang, Zoning, National Taiwan University School of Medicine, provides five steps - LATER - to teach parents to correctly handle the temperament problems of children.
GOOD TV show "Love + Good Doctor", explores the topic on children speaking foul language in a recent episode. Dr Huang, Zoning, host of the show, explains that those fierce words mostly come from modeling grown ups around them. After children hear the words and see the reactions to those words, they acknowledge that these words have a function, which is to cause strong reactions from others, therefore they are more likely to imitate and use these words.
When a child throws tantrum and even swears in public, what should the parents do? Dr Huang said that parents first need to calm down and understand their own emotions. Yelling at the child is usually not the best choice. He recommends five steps to handle the situation:
Leave: Remove the child. Parents need to try their best to remove the child from the scene where their tantrum explodes.
Assure: Clearly tell the child the reason why they disagree with him/her. They also need to clarify their own emotions, for example, "What you said made me very sad.", etc.
Time out: Allow the child to be temporarily isolated.
Embrace: Hug the child or give the child emotional comfort in other ways.
Review: Dr. Huang mentions that it is very important to review the handling of emotions in the incident. Parents may choose incidents that are suitable for their family to discuss or share, so that the child knows clearly why his/her behaviour is wrong, and at the same time teach an appropriate way to express him/herself.
Another psychologist who took part in the show's Q&A session also recommends parents to look for these two places in public: washrooms, to handle children's physical needs, and quiet staircases, a better place for handling children's emotional problems if necessary.
(Translated from Chinese.GospelHerald.com)
