One of the major sources of difficulties both at home and the societies we live in is troublesome children’s behavior. Problematic children behavior often leads to distress, dissatisfaction and sometimes violence in families and the society at large (Söderback, 2015. Pg 312). Most problems include anger management and temper tantrums, noxious social behaviors, related social problems and health complications among others. A need to manage children behavior arises to develop ways in which the scope of problems identified can be addressed and managed early enough (Söderback, 2015. Pg 312). The scope of these problems keeps widening. To manage this scenario, new methods are continuously being developed through research for better precision in addressing these problems.
Children behavior modification is applied to different life settings (Elalu, 2017). The subsets could be clinical, home or school setups (Elalu, 2017). This research seeks to identify the importance of child behavior modification in the different setups. What is the importance of child behavior modification? The future of each society relies on how children are molded to act for the society. Child behavior modification methods can be traced to years back (Söderback, 2015. Pg 312). Some of the methods applied in the past have become obsolete and fail to meet the desired results in shaping modern-day children behavior. This research, therefore, seeks to identify to the most efficient methods to match the modern day children behavioral trends.
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Literature Review and the Limitations
Several studies have been undertaken to address the problems in children behavior. In 1959, Williams conducted a study to address tantrums and noxious behavior in children. In the study, Williams advised parents whose children exhibit temper tantrums during bedtime to terminate attention previously accorded to the children in such scenarios (Söderback, 2015. Pg 309). This procedure failed to address the temper tantrums problems in the children under study, and to reverse the situation; a concerned relative was introduced to calm the children. This method worked as it was based on the operant conditioning principles (Söderback, 2015. Pg 312). However, it is not applicable as in the modern family lifestyle; it is hard to find relatives beyond the nuclear family living near each other.
Other than the fact that operant conditioning fails to work at home, it is important to note that the method fails to work in other setups such as schools (Söderback, 2015. Pg 312). A good behavior modification program should be able to encompass all the subsets that children operate in. Since the year 1969, studies on behavior therapy have been on the rise to provide education on therapy application to modify a child’s behavior. One of the therapy related methods advocated for is the use of programmed texts, films and hardware to address classroom behavior (Söderback, 2015. Pg 312). This method has been seen to generate desirable results in the classroom. However, the degree of its impact has not been well documented.
Behavioral programming has also gained significant support and has been applied across home setups and school setups. Both regular and special schools have incorporated behavioral programming in their curricula. Though its application is less apparent, it has been highly utilized in both individual and classroom contingency management. The goal is to enhance behavior modification in children in order to reduce on children behavioral problems which have become problematic to both families and the society at large.
Behavioral therapy has acquired a lot of support from various researchers and the different parties in child development (Reichow, Boyd, et al, 2016. Pg 139). Therapy provides efficient results in the clinical and correctional setups. When dealing with children with autism, albinism or mental complications, therapy helps to structure the children’s behavior and build their confidence making them address life obstacles and undertake their normal routines in the society just like other normal kids (Reichow, Boyd, et al, 2016. Pg 139). Therapy can be applied in both home setup and clinical setups. Correctional and rehabilitation facilities have also incorporated behavioral therapy to mold the children’s character into useful members of the society (Reichow, Boyd et al., 2016. Pg 139). However, there have been concerns from some researchers. Some researchers have claimed that therapy creates fear in children thereby affecting their growth.
In addition to addressing naturally occurring problems in children, behavior modifications also seek to address health complications resulting from poor dietary acts by our children. Among the major causes of lifestyle diseases in poor eating habits that have been adopted by the current generation (Peter and Freeman, 2011. Pg 277). Diseases such as cancer and heart complications have been said to result from the eating habits that the modern generation has engaged in. To ensure that society remains healthy, parents and other stakeholders in children development are advised to encourage healthy eating to their children (Peter and Freeman, 2011. Pg 276). Many children have acquired obesity, which has been named as a major contributor to heart complications (Peter and Freeman, 2011. Pg 276). However, researches have not embarked further on advising means within which stakeholders in children development can provide a framework for improving the diets both at home and other setups. The framework should take into consideration the financial capabilities of each household.
Conclusion
Children behavior modification is not new in the modern society (Routledge, 2017. Pg 299). Since the 1960s, the need to identify behavior modification patterns has been advocated for as children get exposed to different dynamics in the modern world. The society has advanced technologically exposing children to some undesirable life dynamics which were not there in the prior centuries. This means that children behavioral modification approaches cannot be ignored in children development (Routledge, 2017. Pg 300). All the stakeholders in children development, therefore, have a role to play in order to protect the future of our societies and the country.
References
BEHAVIOR THERAPY WITH CHILDREN: Volume 1 . (2017). S.l.: ROUTLEDGE.
Eulau, H. (2017). Behavior Therapy with Children: Volume 2 .
Peters, T., & Freeman, J. (2011). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, An Issue of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America . London: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Reichow, B., Boyd, B. A., Barton, E. E., & Odom, S. L. (2016). Handbook of Early Childhood Special Education .
Söderback, I. (2015). International handbook of occupational therapy interventions
