When preschoolers fight

Preschoolers tend to have aggressive feelings which they cannot control yet. They push, hit, bite or scratch others. This is common and usually occurs during the child’s 12-18 months of age. But when this behavior persists when the child reaches preschool, it might be a sign that the child has some behavioral problems. He or she might not taught well by the parents or worst he or she may be a victim of abuse or had witnessed or exposed violence from movies and TV. Children who had shown aggressiveness at a very young age tend to be more likely to carry this behavior when they are older.

Early this morning, my friend’s preschool daughter was hit in the head by a classmate. The hitter tripped-up that made the other preschoolers laughed. Then the upset kid started hitting other kids and one was my friend’s daughter.

This also happened once in a while with my kids. One time my mother got emotional and confronted the hitter at once and told him that if he do it again my mom will hit him too 10 time harder. I know that’s not the proper way to deal with it as there are more effective ways of handling a hitter.

Here’ what I think we should do to prevent hitting in preschools:

·         It is better to interfere before a child starts hitting.

·         Do not ignore fighting between younger siblings. 

·         Do not hit a child if he or she starts hitting because this will impart aggressive behaviors.

·         Teach the child how to be compassionate by saying “When your angry don’t hit because hitting hurts”

·         Preschool teachers should closely monitor a hitter.

·         If hitting happens, separate the children then attend to the one hit and comfort him/her.

If a child has a constant problem with hitting or aggressive behavior, it should be better that the parents ask for professional help from a child psychiatrist who would be able to help treat such behavioral problem in young children.