Children irritating others

Recently I’ve read a number of stories where people are upset by parents who are not appropriately responding to their children’s misbehavior. When children are irritating others or destroying other’s property, parents have a responsibility to step in and set some limits. These are some examples of situations where parents were not responding and others were becoming upset:

• A young boy was ripping up church brochures and leaving a mess. His parents were nearby but didn’t do anything.
• A girl made a rude comment to a stranger. The parents ignored it although it upset the stranger.
• A young girl was screaming for an extended period of time in a store. A number of customers were upset that the mother was not responding to this girl.
• A child was kicking the back of the seat ahead of him in the airplane. The parents did not intervene to stop this behavior.

Although it can be especially difficult to handle misbehavior in public situations, parents have a duty to do so. If you’re struggling for effective ways to handle your children’s misbehavior, taking the Priceless Parenting online parenting class will give you plenty of practical ideas.