Unmet Needs and Children’s Behavior

The relationships that children are exposed to as they are growing up will determine how they behave. Children who grow up neglected will seek ways of getting attention from those who are around them. They will use different means of getting that attention. How children behave will be structured around the adult’s expectations concerning them and the social boundaries that are generally defined by the society (Robinson, 2010). Neglecting children will affect their development. Psychological maltreatment involves rejection, isolation, ignorance, corruption and terrorizing. Rejection refers to when the parents refuse to failing to acknowledge the child and abandoning him, unfairly criticizing and blaming the child, and abusing the child verbally. Isolation includes keeping the child away from necessary relationships such as friends and family. Terrorizing includes threatening the child. Ignoring the child is the failure to respond to a child and pretending that she is not there. Corrupting the child is encouraging and supporting the child to engage in deviant behavior.

Children who are psychologically maltreated usually have low self-esteem. They experience periods of anxiety and depression and they have a negative view towards life. Some of them entertain suicidal thoughts and they are emotionally unstable. They find it difficult to maintain self-control and they have difficulty forming relationships. Others result to violence and they engage in criminal behavior. In school, they have behavioral problems and some are poor performers (Zastrow & Ashman, 2009). Children who are neglected may start showing aggressive behavior at an early age but they become withdrawn as they grow older (Smith & Fong, 2004).

Children have a need for physical protection and safety, relationships and physical needs. Children need to know that they are safe. Children who grow up in unsafe environments will grow up insecure and this will affect them later in life. A secure child will know how to trust and he will develop self-confidence. Children need to feel a sense of belonging. They should experience the love of those who are around them. When they do not have this when they are young, they will not know how to form relationships when they grow up. They will not know how to behave in the relationships (Brazelton & Greenspan, 2001). The important thing for parents is to provide the basic needs for their children. These include food, water, shelter, clothing and access to medical care. Basic needs are most important because they contribute to the physical development of the child. The other needs come secondary to the basic needs. Children whose needs are not met use different means to ensure that they get what they want. If they grow up knowing that they have to provide for themselves, they are likely to use violence when they grow up.

Teachers can play an important role in helping the children to meet some of these needs. They have a responsibility of ensuring the welfare of their children while they are under their care. They can identify children who have problems forming relationships and they can help them by showing them how to interact with the others. This can be done during playtime or during classroom activities. By placing the children in groups, teachers can easily identify the individual problems of each child and know how the child works best. Teachers can best identify behavioral problems when children interact with each other. They are able to guide the children when they see signs of violent behavior.

Some children experience low self esteem and this prevents them from exploiting their full potential. When children are given activities, which they are good at, and which they enjoy, they feel a sense of satisfaction when they finish and they feel a sense of pride in their work. This in turn develops their self-esteem and they become more confident about themselves and about their abilities (Martin & Loomis, 2006). Teachers can easily notice children who are neglected at home since they spend a lot of time with them. Teachers have a duty to ensure that children are taken care of when they are in school. This includes knowing how well they feed and how well they are rested. Teachers also have a duty to inform the authorities in case they perceive that the children are being neglected.

References

Brazelton, B. T., & Greenspan, I. S. (2001). The irreducible needs of children: What every child must have to grow, learn, and flourish. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press

Martin, J. D., & Loomis, S. K. (2006). Building teachers: A constructivist approach to introducing education. New York, NY: Cengage Learning

Robinson, M. (2010). Understanding behaviour and development in early childhood: A guide to theory and practice. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis

Smith, G. M., & Fong, R. (2004). The children of neglect: when no one cares. United Kingdom: Psychology Press

Zastrow, C., & Ashman, K. K. (2009). Understanding human behavior and the social environment. New York, NY: Cengage Learning