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Another critical issue
with young children is that without intervention, behavioral
problems may develop into a more serious behavioral disorder at
later childhood. While studies have shown that some
children renounce their conduct problems, others, especially those
with persistent and severe problems, continue to display some
degrees of misconducts as adults or adolescence (Conners et al.
322).
Another problem that parents may face is that they often do
not know how to react appropriately to challenging children since
they do not have enough information related to age-appropriate
expectations of children (Ferrer et al.).
One
inappropriate reaction of some parents is the use of corporal
punishment on these misbehaving children that can result in
horrifying child abuse stories.
For those parents that find it
difficult to cope with the noncompliant child, they often seek help
from online resources, books, and other forms of media.
Unfortunately, there exists a plethora of
information related to parenting the noncompliant child, and
confusing terms and contradicting advices from leading experts. The
average parents may often discomfitted and overwhelmed by these all
this advice.
Some parents seek professional
help that occasionally offers no positive results.
As a
result, we need to carefully examine various resources to understand
the many aspects of parenting a strong-willed child age’s two to
six.
There are many
different definitions of the term ‘strong-willed’ that experts refer
to.
According to Dr. Robert MacKenzie, an educational
psychologist and family therapist, and the author of the book Setting Limits with Your Strong-Willed
Child, 2001, a strong-willed child is a child who persistently
tests authorities, ‘resist longer, protest louder, and use more
drama’ (3).
Similarly, Dr. Rex Forehand, a
research professor of clinical child psychology and director for the
Institute for Behavior Research at the
University of
Georgia,
and Dr. Nicholas Long, an associate professor of pediatrics and
director of pediatric psychology at the University of Arkansas for
Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children's Hospital, authors of the
bookParenting the Strong-Willed Child,
define a strong-willed child is a child with “a strong sense of
independence” (Forehand and Long 8). Likewise, Dr. James Dobson, a
child psychologist turned evangelist and politician, and the author
of the book The New Strong-Willed Child,
derives his definition from the book Know
Your Child of psychiatrists Stella Chess and Alexander Thomas to
explain that a strong-willed child is one who displays “negative
reactions to people,
intense mood swing, irregular sleep patterns and feeding
schedules, frequent periods of crying, and violent tantrums when frustrated”
(Dobson 2006).
In the same manner,
Dr. Carl Pickhardt, a child psychologist, defines a strong-willed child
as one who has more ‘self-determination’ than other normal children
(2005).
Lastly, Minnell Tralle, an Extension family
relations educator at the University of Minnesota, describes a
strong-willed child as one who is “spirited, noncompliant,
difficult, or active-alert” (2007).
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