How to prevent Bad Habits in Children?
Prevention is better than cure. That’s what everyone says. So it must be true. This article delves into the concerning topic of bad habits for kids, aiming to uncover their sources, impact, and methods to prevent and address them effectively.
Table of Contents
1. Reduce Internet Usage
Scared that your child is going to pick up some nasty habits at their uncle’s 50th birthday bash? Don’t worry; you’re not the only parent.
No matter how many bad habits lists you create for your children, they won’t learn that way. You’ll have to do something other than showing them a list of good and bad habits and hoping they pick the good ones, no.
That’s simply not enough.
There are other techniques, though. Want to know the secret? Keep reading.
Both elementary and primary school children are at increased risk of becoming addicted to the internet.
You can trace a lot of bad habits in children back to their smartphone activity. Picking up crass words, learning slang and disruptive behavior, and not prioritizing any other healthy activity; all of these negative traits can be prevented by limiting children’s screen time.
2. Focus on their Emotional State
As per a study, around 2.2% of Indian children subjected to surveys suffered from anxiety disorders.
Children have more problems than they let on. Because they can’t express it, they digress by adopting bad habits instead. Make sure that you always prioritize their mental well-being.
3. Ensure They Feel Safe
Safe children don’t have negative reactions. More often than not, they will behave well in front of others if they have had a good upbringing.
4. Reward Good Behavior
Parents should reward children when they exhibit good habits for positive reinforcement. Having a healthy diet, good hygiene, proper mannerisms, etc. can encourage children to adopt good habits all the time. Manners are vital for children as they lay the foundation for respectful interactions, empathy, and positive social relationships
You can also create a good and bad habits list for kids to help them determine which path is good and which one is wrong.
How to Treat Bad Habits in Children?
We’ve talked about preventing bad habits. But what if your child is already showing signs of negative behavioral traits?
Don’t worry. It’s not uncommon. When we think properly, we can name at least 10 bad habits for students and kids that are normal in today’s generation.
But we cannot let that slide, can we? There are some ways through which parents can treat bad habits.
But for that, they’ll need to recognize the common bad habits in children.
1. Rethink Punishments
Bad habits definitely deserve punishments. After all, if your child steals, you cannot just ignore that, can you?
But punishing them should not inspire fear. Instead, they should feel sorry and recognize their wrongdoings.
Make sure that they don’t start resenting you for the punishments. There are several punishments that you can think of, depending on the gravity and frequency of their bad habits. But none of them should involve hitting or yelling at children.
2. Point Out Bad Habits
Sometimes, children just pick up bad habits from adults. They don’t recognize what they’re doing is wrong. So, you need to stop your bad habits for children’s sake.
Next, you can simply start pointing out bad habits in children that you don’t like. You can create a good habits for kids chart to show them what is morally good. On the other hand, they can consult the bad habit chart to check themselves.
Sometimes, simply talking to children can produce wonderful results.
3. Be A Good Example
Children learn everything from those closest to them. If you can stop your 20 bad habits for children’s sake, you’ll have to worry about 20 fewer potential bad habits your kids might pick up from you.
If you set a good example, children will hardly ever disappoint you.
Factors That Trigger Bad Habits for Kids
If you sit down and create a bad habits list based on what kids do on a daily basis, we’d need more paper.
The gravity of the issue is still not fully comprehended by most people. To give you a fair idea of how teenagers are getting influenced by bad habits, here is a 2022 survey showing extreme symptoms in students.
You could think of 10 bad habits for students off the top of your head. That is the sad state of reality.
But an important question arises – how do kids get these bad habits?
From Where Do Kids Pick Up Bad Habits?
To promote good behavior, adults should check their bad habits for kid’s positive development. Most kids pick up negative traits from the adults around them.
But there are some other places from where children pick up bad habits:
1. School
As per multiple surveys, behavior issues in school have catapulted in recent years. A large part of this problem is because of the frequent cases of bullying in high-schools.
Children are highly prone to mirroring these disruptive behavioral traits. Over time, they become redundant bad habits.
2. Public Areas
As per a study, more than 50% of the general population uses cuss words in public areas during conversations.
Children, being curious, pick up on such bad displays of behavior and form negative habits.
3. The Internet
As per a 2021 survey conducted by NIMHANS, 42% of Indian children between the ages 10 and 17 are addicted to internet usage. Now, surfing the internet for hours on end is bad behavior in itself.
But kids also pick up other negative habits online, such as cursing while multiplayer gaming, watching age-inappropriate content, and so on. Kids above the age of 8 spend around eight hours a day streaming digital content online. This calls for a review of their internet usage.
What are the Factors that Triggers Bad Habits in Children?
Now, we know the mediums through which kids can pick up bad habits. A simple activity of preparing good habits for kids chart can help them differentiate between good and bad.
In fact, a bad habit chart wouldn’t hurt, either. That’ll show them what kind of behavior is problematic.
So, now that you’ve created a list of good and bad habits, what’s the next step? Figuring out what triggers such negative traits.
Here’s what:
1. Dietary Habits and Hydration
As per several studies, your diet has a key link to depression and anxiety. If you’re not eating well enough, you’ll be prone to bad behavior and mood swings.
And this does not involve just eating timely meals. You have to have proper, balanced, and nutritious food.
2. Sleep Patterns
Not sleeping well enough? According to experts, children who sleep less than 5-6 hours on a daily basis are prone to unhealthy behavior, irritability, fatigue, and many other underlying conditions.
Having a healthy sleep pattern can make you feel more refreshed open to positive behavior.
3. Insecurity
According to an interesting survey, most (more than 50%) of people who have had a history of bullying or intimidating other people struggle with talking about their past, indicating a troubled childhood. Childhood is a time of wonder and discovery, where every moment contributes to building lasting memories and essential life lessons.
Most bullies are insecure about something or the other. This reflects that insecurity can influence behavior and form unhealthy habits in kids.
4. Lack of Outdoor Activities
Staying inside too often can trigger a lot of unhealthy and bad habits in children.
Over time, kids will become prone to gaming for long hours, watching too much digital content and television, eating junk food, not socializing, and so on.
As per a survey, 39% of people require daily exposure to sunlight to influence their mood and behavior positively. If children don’t spend a lot of time doing outdoor activities, they are bound to pick up tons of unhealthy habits along the way.
Participating in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities cultivates essential life skills, promotes well-rounded growth, and enriches the overall educational journey for students.
5 Bad Habits of Kids That Need to be Addressed
Do you wash your hands before and after finishing your meal? If you’re making a guilty face right now, you’re most likely a victim of this prevalent bad habit.
In fact, you’re not alone. Surveys show that most children are picking up bad habits while growing up.
When the problem is this large, it makes sense to have a bad habit chart for you to consult on the go.
But not washing hands or spitting on the street do not top the bad habits list in any manner. There are other, worse habits that kids are routinely falling prey to.
How Bad Habits Influence Behavior in Children?
According to research, children start developing their own habits by the age of nine.
Thus, what they learn during their initial years can play a huge role in how they behave in the future.
We have already established, through the first graph, that children learn most of the negative traits from adults. Just imagine a child walking down a road. They are perceptive; they see everything. If they spot a man spitting down on the road, they won’t think it’s bad.
After all, it’s a grown-up doing that. So, they’ll start mirroring that action. Children have a tendency to copy. If they do it often enough, this bad habit will become a behavior by the time the child grows up.
Thus, it’s essential to recognize all the bad habits for kids and discourage their public displays.
Five Bad Habits in Kids That Must be Avoided
We’ve talked about some of the common bad habits in children. If we think enough, we can all name more than 10 bad habits for students and children on the fly.
But that won’t be productive. Because children mirror adult behavior.
Just ask yourself – when was the last time you ate healthy? And then you can preach your kids to have better dietary habits.
As you can see, the results aren’t particularly healthy. As such, we’re likely to see many bad habits for children’s development in terms of what they eat.
But that is not the only bad habit they can pick up.
Here is a list of bad habits for students and children that need to be addressed at all costs:
1. Cursing
This one tops the bad habit chart. If a child is cursing, they must have picked it up from an adult.
Even in emotional situations, we must be level-headed enough not to curse in front of children. If you see a kid cursing, make sure to let them know how bad of a habit it is and that they should never repeat it.
Sometimes, they just need to know that to stop.
2. Talking Back
When children talk back, it’s a sign they are experiencing some problems in their lives. Talk to them and get to the root of this bad habit.
3. Lying
One of the most common but prominent bad habits in children. Lying can start innocently enough. Like when your child tells you that they haven’t been finishing up the ice cream in the fridge.
But if not addressed, it can become a habit that could lead to enormous problems.
4. Stealing
When children want something, they tend to want it desperately. Sometimes, that desperation might compel them to do something bad – like stealing.
The problem needs to be addressed immediately.
5. Skipping School
Skipping school seems like a reward to children. It’s understandable enough. They don’t want to get up early in the morning and spend the day watching cartoons. Innocuous enough, right?
But if encouraged, skipping school can become a habit.
Now you know about all the bad habits names that you need to avoid in your children. Prepare good habits and bad habits charts for your children to help them decide what to do and what not to do.
Kids learn pretty quickly. This will help them enormously.
Conclusion
The list of bad habits for students and children is huge.
One way to prevent this is to prepare good and bad habits chart for them. By consulting what is good and what is bad, they can regulate their behavior and rely on self-judgment.
But if the bad habits chart is not working, then you might want to explore the many factors that might be resulting in your child’s bad behavior.
As parents, it’s your responsibility to check your kids’ bad habits. If there is no room for prevention, treatment should be done with the utmost care.
Frequently Asked Questions
Prepare a good habit for kids chart and ask them to follow it. Reward them for every good behavior. This will help children overwrite their bad habits.
Parents can easily consult good and bad habits list for kids from the internet and become aware of the kind of example they should be setting up.
Parents can prevent bad habits in children by setting a good example, rewarding positive behavior, and giving kids a healthy upbringing.
With good and patient parenting, it is possible to completely remove bad traits from children by simply conditioning them to behave differently.
If your child is faking illnesses to go to school, you should find out the cause of the problem. If the child is simply skipping school to watch cartoons, then they must be disciplined. Or it could be underlying reasons like bullying.