Forget the naughty step! Reasoning with children is the best way to make them stop misbehaving

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3187284/Forget-naughty-step-Reasoning-children-best-way-make-stop-misbehaving.html
By COLIN FERNANDEZ

When a child is throwing a tantrum, reasoning with the little blighter may be the last thing on a parent's mind.

In the long run, however, experts suggest it is the most effective strategy for improving their behaviour.

Using a punishment such as putting a child on the naughty step – also known as a 'time out' – can also be effective, but children need to know in advance that this could be coming if they are bad, experts say.

Surprisingly, the best way to deal with your child if they are having a tantrum, as above, or behaving badly may be to reason with them. Scientists studied how 102 parents dealt with their children when they were naughty and found reasoning could actually lead the children to behave better in the long run
The quickest way to defuse a situation – compromising – may buy peace for a short time, but in the long run it may lead to worse behaviour.
Scientists asked 102 parents how they dealt wth 'toddler noncompliance' – naughtiness to you or I – on five occasions.

Approaches like the naughty step, pictured above, have gained popularity in recent years for dealing with misbehaviour, but it often fails to work

They found that reasoning was the most effective immediate response to mild misbehaviour such as whining or negotiating – when young children try and argue their way out of doing something.

Punishments such as the naughty step were least effective.

But when it came to dealing with more 'oppositional' misbehaviour such as defiance, hitting and 'passive non-compliance', reasoning was the least effective response while 'naughty step' style punishmnents were second best after compromising.

Over the longer term, compromise 'made all behavioural problems worse for the most oppositional toddlers', the study's authors Robert Larzerle and Sade Knowles found.

Reasoning, however, was most effective after two months for these children, despite being the least effective response immediately.

The authors wrote that they found it 'surprising' that reasoning worked in the end with 'oppositional' infants.

They wrote: 'To our surprise, frequent use of reasoning decreases behavior problems subsequently with oppositional toddlers, even though it is the least effective response for immediate reduction of noncompliance.

'We thought that the compliance of the most oppositional children had to improve to typical levels before they could be positively influenced by reasoning. Otherwise we thought they would just tune parents out.'

For more defiant toddlers they advise that time out is a good idea.

But to make more effective use of punishments such as timeouts, another author, Ennio Cipani of National University in the US said toddlers need to be told ahead of time which behaviors - such as hitting or yelling- will put them in timeout.

He added that it was always important to follow through with these punishments once the line had been drawn.

He said: 'Our clinical case findings, have shown that timeout used consistently for select behaviors and situations significantly reduced problem behaviours over time.' 

For defiant children, a time out can be effective, but the scientists say it is important that parents are clear with their children about what behaviour will lead to punishments and that they follow through with these. A stock picture of a girl throwing a tantrum after she has been told she cannot have some sweets
NAUGHTY CHILDREN MAY HAVE THE CEO GENE THAT LEADS TO SUCCESS 

• Parents who brag their child could be the next Tim Cook or Bobbi Brown - despite a less than glowing report card - may well be right.
• A new study claims naughty schoolchildren may have what's been called the ‘CEO gene’ making them more likely to head up a major company in the future. 
• Scientists claim that a particular gene sequence associated with ‘mild’ rule breaking in children is the same one that leads to leadership qualities found in successful high-flying chief executives.
• However, it depends on a child’s home environment, because bad behaviour in the classroom can also lead to a withdrawn personality that’s not good for business, the study warns.
• Psychologists from Kansas State University analysed health data covering 13,000 adults and discovered the influence of DAT1, which transports the chemical dopamine to the brain.
• Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain’s responses to reward and pleasure.
• They found that in children, DAT1 leads to ‘mild’ bad behaviour such as playing truant, but not serious bad behaviour such as violent crime.
• However, they also discovered it provides positive leadership qualities in adults who often went on to become the heads of companies or lead divisions within a company.
• Psychologists believe those with DAT1 learn early on to push boundaries.