Hypothetical question...spinoff of my other thread..

If your child hit another child and opened up their face to the point where they needed a stitch, how would you handle it? I would say at around the age of 4.

If your child outright admitted it was for no reason...that they just wanted to hit, what would you do? How would you handle the situation? Moreso, in a preschool setting. TIA

Re: Hypothetical question...spinoff of my other thread..

I would explain to my child that what he did was wrong and why it was wrong. I would make it very clear that it is NOT okay to hit, especially for "no reason". I would also explain the damage that was done to the other child and ask my child to put himself in the other child's shoes to see how he would feel. Then I would make him apologize to the child he hit.

Re: Hypothetical question...spinoff of my other thread..

Considering the last experience i had with 4 year olds was about 10 years ago, I'm a little rusty.

I woudl explain that under no circumstances is hitting appropriate. I would explain that we all get angry, but we need to tell someone, in words, when we are upset- and not hit or use violence. I would then send the kid to a time out and take away a privilege like a favorite toy or TV show.

Re: Hypothetical question...spinoff of my other thread..

I have a 4 year old. When he was 3, Joseph scratched another boy at pre-school - about a 2 inch scratch. It wasn't deep but it was big (2 inches on another 3 year old is VERY big).

I made him apologize to the boy and to the boy's father (which was probably worse). He didn't get to watch TV or get a book that night and no dessert. Instead I laid with him in his bed and talked to him about hitting and how sad he made Nicholas.

On the way to school the next morning, we discussed what was "preschool behavior" and what we can & can't do. Mainly because I don't think they get the concept when people say "Be good" - they need to know what "good" means. I told him if he wanted to stay in pre-school and not go back to the Toddler group, he had to behave like a pre-schooler. Than when we got to school, I made him apologize to his teacher for it.

He's hit other kids since (which I think is normal) and we go through the same repertoire I think what bothers him most is apologizing to the parents.

etd. - if he was the one that got scratched or hit, I try to downplay it for him - and explain that he needs to tell the kids that he doesn't like that and then we go over scenarios like "If Christian hits you, do we hit him back? what do you think you should do?"

Message edited 10/18/2005 2:40:06 PM.