A Behavioral Analyst Shares 4 Steps To Raising Well-Behaved Kids
And all of them are reasonably easy!
Nothing is better than a parent-teacher conference that turns into a compliment sesh over your child’s stellar behavior. Or, a stranger in the grocery store, who decides to let you know what wonderfully polite kids you have!
But how do you get there?
If the goal is well-mannered, well-behaved children, don’t worry — a board-certified behavioral analyst says it’s easier than you think, and it’s all to do with how you treat your kids.
Amanda, who goes by @bcba_amanda on TikTok, shared the list of things that parents of well-behaved kids are most likely to doing.
1. They listen to their kids.
“Like really listening to them, not texting while their children are talking to them, not distracted while they're playing with their child,” Amanda said.
How can you tell your kids to look up from that damn phone if you never do, right?
2. They validate their kids’ emotions.
Amanda clarified that validating your kid’s feelings doesn’t mean agreeing with them all the time.
“This means that you can say simple statements like, ‘I hear you, it seems like you're upset right now,” she said.
3. They give their kid explanations when they have to say ‘no.’
Because, “Because I said so,” has never, in all of human history, been a satisfying answer. Kids might need a little bit of help understanding our reasoning, and also, they simply deserve the basic respect of an explanation.
4. They maintain boundaries.
“They do not let their children run the show,” Amanda explained. “They say what they mean and they mean what they say. They stay firm.”
Basically, if you model good behavior for your kid, treat them with respect and provide them with necessary structure, they will mirror that behavior themself when the time comes.
While most of the comments agreed with Amanda’s list, one parent made an important point.
“I do all these things but my son is still a nightmare at times, I think it’s important for mums to know they can do their best and their kids still misbehave,” the user wrote.
“Yes no one is perfect and there will be times when they are kids!” Amanda responded. “It happens! Keep up the hard work and be so proud of the kiddos you’re working so hard to raise 🥰”
