Now that we've framed what he's doing in developmental terms, let's take a look at what might be the genesis of his unacceptable behaviors. It seems to me that he has limited and immature impulse control when confronted with an unstructured situation or one that triggers considerable anxiety and/or excitement. I would begin giving him alternative behavioral responses for his emotional tool kit, like showing him he can stomp his foot or go punch a pillow if he finds himself very anxious or excited. I'm suggesting alternative physical responses because at his stage of impulse control, just telling him to only use words(which of course you always suggest as a response) is too difficult. Tell him to save up all that speed that he uses running down the hall and show you how fast he can run when you see him after school. The idea here is to reframe his behaviors contextually so he can feel pleasure from something he currently does instinctively. His teachers should attempt to take a behavior that currently results in a negative, i.e. the fast running, and turn it into a positive, i.e. showing how fast he can run on the playground. Try this mindset out for a while and let me know the results. Good luck.
Aggressive Five-Year-Old
Carleton Kendrick has been in private practice as a family therapist and has worked as a consultant for more than 20 years. He has conducted parenting seminars on topics ranging from how to discipline toddlers to how to stay connected with teenagers. Kendrick has appeared as an expert on national broadcast media such as CBS, Fox Television Network, Cable News Network, CNBC, PBS, and National Public Radio. In addition, he's been quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, USA Today, Reader's Digest, BusinessWeek, Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day, and many other publications.
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