Things to remember when dealing with children who behave badly

Things to remember when dealing with children who behave badly
• All children will behave badly at some time or another, especially when they are less than four years
old. This is normal.
• When bad behaviour is present in older children for many months and is associated with breaking family
or school rules by lying, stealing, bullying, fighting or not attending school, it is called conduct disorder.
• The commonest causes of conduct disorder are violence in the family and inconsistent parental
discipline. Hyperactivity and dyslexia are other causes.
• Teaching simple rules of discipline and encouraging parent–child discussions are the key methods of
dealing with conduct disorder. Medication has no role.