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Jessica Miles, Violence Prevention Education
To be able to cause a systemic change to our society to stop the cycle of violence then we need to start at a younger age and be persistent with the training throughout the child’s school life. Aggressive behavior is detrimental to a child’s development both socially and emotionally. Aggressive behavior is an instinct that we are taught how to manage. Aggression shows signs as early as infancy to six months in the form of vocally screaming and facial expressions, once the infant can manage motor skills control that is the time when physical aggression out of frustration starts usually between six months to a year. From one year to two years of age the child know starts acting out aggressively to get what they want, i.e. Temper Tantrums which are explosive displays of anger. By the ages of two and three the child is more likely to start hitting, this form of physical aggression usually diminishes between the ages of four and five years old. Usually though when the physical aggression diminishes around that age verbal aggression usually increases with the vocabulary.
Aggressive behavior shows in many different ways such as; Physical, Verbal, Proactive, Reactive, these are the types of aggressive behavior. Physical aggressive behavior is hitting, pushing, biting, and object throwing. Verbal aggressive behavior could be as using hostile words to threaten, insult, intimidate or even to make another person angry but this is usually followed by a physical aggression. Indirect aggressive behavior is trying to harm another by spreading a rumor, humiliation or exclusion from a group by isolating the victim socially. This form is the most common in adults and is the most complex of aggressive behavior. Proactive is an aggressive behavior without any provoking, this is done as a means to achieve a goal (i.e. grabbing toys from other children), and reactive this is usually like a reaction to something that happened accidentally or non-accidentally (i.e. hitting another due to them taking something from you). These are a few of the aggressive behaviors that are seen in preschool aged children. The aggressive behaviors are a natural instinct but through teaching good social and emotional skills these behaviors will diminish.
Children having good social and emotional skills can lead to better economic stability in the future, more likely to graduate from high school and college, also can make it easier for a child to navigate the ups and downs that come with growing up, and also with these skills will help prevent serious future issue i.e. substance abuse, mental illness, or criminal behavior. Having good social and emotional skills it allows the children the ability to identify their emotions and others emotions, cooperate with others respectfully, express their emotions constructively, to negotiate, reconcile with others after a conflict, and approach others confidently to see if they want to play. These skills are a vital key to bring the cycle of violence to an end. Not only that but research has shown that children who do not learn hope to properly regulate and express emotions has a higher probability for serious issues mentioned prior but also poor academic performance, dropping-out of school, health problems, and difficulties at school. Also through my researching this topic it was found that children that show a stable physical aggression after the age of five are more likely to continue even twenty years later unless intervened prior to the age of five. It was found that interventions are more beneficial at the preschool level but once they get the adolescent level the interventions’ can cause an increase in criminal behavior. There is something that we all can do to help change this dynamic and to help children to navigate their emotions.
Just as Teacher’s in early head start teach the children their emotions their need to be an emphasis on the proper way to handle and deal with those emotions. It is not just the responsibility of the Teacher or the parent but it is the responsibility as an adult to help enforce the proper skills needed to thrive in the world. I hear it all the time while I am in stores and other public areas where the parent is screaming at a screaming child or another person walks by and say not my kid not my problem but it is. As a community we want to be able to get everyone to thrive and be a responsible, respectful member of society. Adults need to intervene to dissuade the aggressive behavior and to support the non-violent behavior. Every adult should be clear about not accepting aggressive behavior and define the consequences of their actions clearly. Some tips for defining consequences would be removal of the child from the surrounding area and talking to the child on their level after a cool off period, by engaging the child to develop their own alternative strategies for non-violent conflict resolution it can help foster a self confidence in the child. Adults/ Community can create programs that may need to include the multiple types of people that could help support a child if need help i.e. Parents, Teachers, and the Children, also for the long-term support if needed through interventions at home, school, and peers. These are some ways that adults can help with interventions. Remember that our future is only as great as the children want it to be and in order to affect a change in the society we need to engage the young as well as continual reiteration of proper use of skills in hopes of ENDING the Cycle of Violence.
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