Many of children’s behavioral problems are due to a lack of impulse control, however, learning to control impulses is not an easy thing, children still don’t have their prefrontal cortex fully developed, which is the part of our brain responsible for impulses.
If it’s not easy for adults, why would it be for children?Developing pulse control requires different skills that you should start teaching as soon as possible. These are control skills we’ve been using since the first social interactions.
- Aggressive and ubiquitous advertising.
- Aimed at stimulating consumption.
- Makes it more difficult than ever to teach children to control their impulses.
- We are used to giving bonuses quickly and we also like to receive them.
- In fact.
- The stimuli around us invite us to act.
- Quickly.
- To make decisions without thinking.
- Simply because we receive something that will bring us immediate and ephemeral pleasure.
Although academic success is not directly proportional to future success, the truth is that it can offer many opportunities for adult life, which can even greatly facilitate a child’s life, parent relationship and promote family life.
Having a child learn to control his impulses can help him get through major stressful situations: homework, tests, learning to wait his turn, learning to listen and think before acting.
Knowing how to control your impulses also makes it easier to relate to other children, teachers, and other adults you have an educational relationship with.
In addition, impulse control helps the child in his studies; Self-control is much more important than intelligence when it comes to academic performance, according to studies by neuroscientists Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang, authors of the book “Welcome to your child’s brain. “
Children who can control their impulses may think better about their answers before writing and are more critical in problem solving. They also tolerate more frustration when it comes to solving problems.
Fortunately, impulse control can be learned and taught; in fact, it’s not innate. We can help children control the the most healthy and consciously, here are some strategies we can use.
When children learn the difference between feelings and behaviors, they can control their impulses. For example, when the child understands it’s normal to be angry, but still can’t “hit others or break things. “There are other options for handleping your feelings without reacting violently.
Children often behave impulsively because they have not listened carefully to the instructions and act before listening. Teaching children to listen to instructions, asking them to repeat what they said, and acting only if they are sure to understand them.
Low tolerance to frustration leads to a number of behavioral problems, so children need to be taught to manage and control their anger to calm down when upset. Show them it’s best to wait a while before you act. when we are angry; gives us time to calm down.
Children learn more by example than by what they hear. Show a proper driving pattern, explain how it works to control your pulses when you have a problem. For example, show that the child has already lived or at the time of the event.
Finally, some additional strategies that can help kids control their impulses:
The competition is very healthy, as long as it is controlled and supervised by professionals who defend and work for non-violence in sport, problem solving and good relations between opponents.