Workshop Focuses on Early Roots of Bullying

On Wednesday, January 8^th at the Prescott YMCA, Parent Educator Wendy Watson, M.Ed. presented a workshop on the early roots of bullying behavior to a group of early childhood educators. The free workshop, which was organized by the Yavapai County Educational Service Agency, Community Counts, and funded by First Things First, focused on addressing aggressive behavior in children age 5 and under.

“Long-term aggressive behavior can very accurately be identified in children as early as age 3 and 4,” Watson said. “It takes a lot of energy to ‘turn the ship around’, but fortunately, behavior is especially changeable during the early years.”

Watson spoke about limiting children’s TV and media exposure as much as possible. “We know that 90% of a child’s brain develops before the age of five. The first five years are a critical period, and we need to protect children from witnessing repeated acts of aggression,” said Watson. “We have to be vigilant about the environment we’re creating for children and if we’re setting them up for aggressive behavior.”

Other than influence of media and TV images, Watson explained that aggressive behavior, such as biting, often stems from a young child’s inability to communicate what they want and need. She said that it is important for parents and caregivers to teach children the words to label and identify their feelings.

Watson presented a list of children’s books that can be used to teach kids about understanding and coping with their emotions. She also encouraged the group to have conversations with children as early as age 2 to help them label their emotions when they are feeling them, such as, “I see that you are sad because you lost your toy”, or “I can see that you are angry that he took your blanket.”

The stakes are high for today’s kindergarteners, so early educators and parents of young children have a big responsibility. “We can be so worried about teaching kids their colors, shapes and numbers that we may skip important lessons like developing empathy and sharing,” said Watson. Since critical social and behavioral skills, including self-esteem, focus and motivation, take root in the first five years, it is important that children are supported to develop these lifelong skills.

Madison Martinez, an early childhood educator at the Prescott YMCA, said that she was grateful for the practical information provided at the workshop. “It’s interesting to learn how to stop bullying at an early age so that we can prevent it before it happens,” Martinez said.

Wendy Watson, M.Ed, talks to a group of child care providers at the Prescott YMCA

 

At the end of the workshop, participants were given the opportunity to discuss specific examples of aggressive behavior that they have encountered with the children in their care and identify ways to address these challenges.

Workshops on parenting and caring for young children like this one are regularly available across Yavapai County. For more information and to find an upcoming class near you, please visit ParentsAZ.org.