01/23/2025
🤔We are all tempted to think, “my kid must be hitting because s/he doesn’t know it hurts! I need to teach them!” But the bottom line is MOST kids are hitting because it ‘works’. Hitting gets big reactions. 🧑🧑🧒Kids often feel powerless given so many choices are being made by adults. Hitting makes them feel powerful and release frustration. So how can we respond if we want hitting to be an extinct behavior? If you’ve already taught your child that hitting is harmful once, then you don’t need to repeat it. What they need in order to want to stop hitting is for hitting to no longer get big reactions. 😌If your child hits you, let them know you need to take a minute break standing up a few feet away from them until they can get back into the Green ✅Zone (see SuperKids Zones on our Insta posts). Wait until they calm and then give lots of specific praise, “nice job choosing to calm”. We want kids to learn the BIGGEST REACTIONS come from kindness and calm not hitting.
