Tuesday's Psychology Tips: Your Kids Are Watching You: Be the Best Role Model You Can Be & You Will See the Results

Thought for the Day: I've been sharing tips on Tuesdays that I wrote for HealthTap. This one is on parenting school aged kids. Yesterday, I also posted a comment on a great Parenting Forum on Our Parenting Spot. Since it is clearly related to the Tip below, I am sharing the question and my response from there as well. Be sure to check out the raffle at the end of this post for your chance to win a free copy of The Wake Up and Dream Challenge.

TipTap: School Age Kids Health

    

HAIKU

Your school aged kids are watching you Be the best role model you can be and you will see results.

Dr. Barbara Lavi

Clinical Psychology

However, be careful since the quote above, "Your school aged kids are watching you. Be the best role model you can be and you will see the results," is true for both positive and negative results. It works both ways. Positive role models produce healthy, supportive well behaved children. Negative role models will see results that that may not be as flattering. On Our Parenting Spot the question was raised: "Should a parent try to fight a child that has bullied their child?"  What do you think about parents intervening in their children's arguments?

Here's the thread from Our Parenting Spot:

"Hello Everyone,
How do you feel about parents intervening in arguments among their children?  Are some of them taking it too far by getting physically involved?  
For a growing number of parents, asking the principal to intervene doesn’t cut it when they believe their child has been threatened.
They have become vigilantes: They send intimidating messages online or show up at school to confront students on their own.
Last week, a Groveport mother barged into a middle school to confront the girl she believed was bullying her daughter. She attacked another student, and a school administrator was injured when he tried to stop the woman from entering the building. She’s facing criminal charges."- Alex

I wrote that:

     Sadly, some parents are exhibiting behaviors that they would not want their children to emulate, if they thought more before they acted. When a parent takes matters into their own hands, goes to a school and starts bullying a child that may have bullied their child, they are teaching their children to be bullies. It leads to a viscous cycle. Bullying does not stop bullying, it exacerbates it. Education, respect for differences and modeling of respectful behavior is necessary. There are comprehensive anti-bullying programs that work not only with bullies and children who have become their targets, but also with teachers, parents and whole communities. Parents need to fight for comprehensive anti-bullying programs in their schools, not act like vigilantes or bullies.

I'd love to hear your thoughts...

In yesterday's post, Thank You for 100,000 Page Views, i asked you to share some of your impressions and wishes for future posts on this blog. Today I'd like to say thank you in a different way. I have decided to raffle off a free copy of the e-book version of The Wake Up and Dream Challenge. Enter below for your chance to win and start making your unfulfilled dreams part of your life.

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