Written by Editorial Team
You: “Can you please switch off the TV? It is dinner time”
Child: “That is not fair, my favorite show is on”
You: “Your room is a mess, clean it up in next 30 mins”
Child: “Whatever”
You: “Have you finished your homework?”
Child: (sarcastically) “No I was dancing in the room”
You: “No, you cannot do that”
Child: “I hate you”
Familiar? Is this how your child back talks?
Kids back-talk. Some more than the others. You do not have to wait till your child is a teenager to experience back-talking – even tiny toddlers back-talk. It is mostly impulsive, but it can be hurting and anger-inducing at the same time. Fortunately, there are multiple ways to deal with back-talking. But first step, as always, is to understand why kids back-talk.
The kneejerk reaction of most parents during a back-talking episode is to get angry and ground the child. Is it normal? Yes. Is it wise? Nope. When you back-talk to your child’s back-talk, you are reinforcing your child’s belief that it is okay to back-talk. Instead, try some of the following 10 tips to deal with back-talking.
The entire discussion above is about back-talking. This is very different from verbal abuse and you need to be able to differentiate between the two. If your child uses bad words, curses, calls you names, says hurtful things or threatens you, that is verbal abuse and not back-talking. Both needs to be dealt with as both are harmful – but verbal abuse needs to be dealt with more aggressively and without delay. Please keep this differentiation in mind. Click more to read on insulting children and hitting children here and here.
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