Tattling

Why do children tattle? Well they primarily do it for attention. It often gives a child a sense of feeling important by reporting to you what has happened. The act of tattling actually helps to develop critical thinking skills in your child.

Tattling involves the skill of observation. It requires your child to determine if a behavior is not appropriate. Then they have to report the details of what has occurred to you.

The trick with tattling is to try to teach your child the difference between tattling to get a sibling in trouble vs. telling on a sibling to protect them.

Tips to Reduce Tattling

· Teach your child to determine the impact of the event they witnessed. For example, if your child reports an event to you, you might ask them “Did anybody get hurt?” This question will help your child understand that the consequences of a sibling’s behavior can be important in determining if the behavior is truly bad and if they should tell on them.

· If the other sibling’s behavior was truly bad, avoid punishing them in front of the tattler. Punishment of the sibling can serve to reinforce tattling behavior.

· Make being a tattle tale inconvenient. Try praising your child for their observation skills. Then, require them to report a good behavior they witness each time they want to report a bad behavior. Ultimately, they will decide that tattling takes too much time.

· Make sure your child is receiving enough attention from you. Tattling could be sign your child would like to spend more time from you.

Tattling is a normal part of child development. However, if you feel you need to control this behavior try the tips above

Sources: http://earlychildhood.suite101.com/

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