Reduce%20Aggression%20With%20Touch

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Reduce Aggression With Touch

• Frances M. Carlson and Bryan G. Nelson

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Think about

• Focus on what is driving children to these levels
  of aggression.
• When touched in a nurturing way children form a
  secure bond with their care taker.
• What happens to children without this positive
  touch?

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Secure Attachment

• Develops from child-caregiver interactions such
  as
• Promptly meeting a childs needs.
• Providing the right amount of interaction and
  stimulation.
• Basing attention, stimulation, and interactions
  of the childs needs.

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Lack of Secure Attachment

• Insecure attachment
• Childs needs not met
• Caregivers needs have taken precedence over the
  childs needs
• Non-attachment
• Lacking positive and nurturing interactions
• Can result from institutionalized care
• Lack of response to adults
• Aggression when frustrated

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Secure Attachment

• Cooperative
• Communicating positively
• Sharing
• Empathy
• Ability to make and keep friends

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Insecure Attachment

• Increased aggression and rage
• Decreased self-control
• Low self-esteem
• Lack of empathy or remorse
• Inability to develop and keep friends
• Behavioral and academic problems at school

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Insecure Attachment

• Boys with insecure attachments are four times
  more likely than securely attached boys to commit
  aggressive acts.

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Interesting Facts

• Children in the United States are touched less
  than those around the world.
• The high-touch cultures have relatively low
  rates of violence while the low-touch cultures
  have extremely high rates of youth and adult
  violence.
• The youth homicide rate in the US is more than 10
  times greater than in other industrialized
  nations where more positive touch occurs.

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Lack of Positive Touch

• An increase in aggression when a decrease in
  physical contact occurred. (Honig 2005)
• Children act aggressively so they can be touched,
  even if it is negative.
• Pushing
• Shoving
• Tripping
• Pinching

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Reduce Aggression With Touch

• Be nurturing
• Wake children with massage
• Greet children with a pat or hug
• Keep contact throughout the day
• End the day with a hug, hand shake, or high five

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Experimenting with Touch

• I chose a child who was having some behavioral
  problems such as interrupting and talking out.
• I greeted the child each morning with a hug or
  pat on the back.
• I walked the room and was sure to give the child
  positive touches during lessons when he might
  otherwise have been interrupting.

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Results

• The childs behavior immediately improved.
• He went 6 weeks with only one incident.
  Previously he was having one or more incidents
  about 4 days a week.
• Other children noticed the improved behavior and
  complimented him on it.
• He asked me to talk to his parents, telling them
  what a good job he was doing. Previously, he
  feared any discussion between his parents and me.
• His self esteem increased.
• His grades slowly improvedthough they werent
  that bad to start with.
• Recently, even other teachers have noticed the
  marked change in his behavior.

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Secret Handshakes

• www.drjean.org

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My Class Experiment

• By Lyne Shirley

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Experiment

• To have gentle interactions with my students,
  especially those that are having difficulty

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Experiment

• Goal To see if these interactions improve 1 the
  learning process, and 2 classroom behaviors.

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Experiment

• Gentle Interactions
• Eye Contact
• Lean over eye level
• Greetings by name as they enter class

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Experiment

• Asked about their weekend and whats going on in
  their life
• Let them talk when they have something to say
• Dont interrupt when theyre talking
• Treated them with respect
• Never demean
• Pat on the shoulder or arm

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Experiment Results

• Made a difference with some of my students
  immediately
• Less aggressive
• Better attention span
• Able to complete assignments on time
• Some responded on some days and not on others

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Essential Touch

• By Frances M. Carlson
• 2006
• NAEYC

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Summary

• Infants need touch in order to thrive
• Touch is essential to the well being of children
  and even adults
• Children need positive touch for them to feel
  love, security, and to develop socially and
  emotionally
• Some children have problems with touch and may
  need different strategies to meet their needs

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Summary

• Educators are confused about the role of touch in
  school settings
• Withholding touch can be just as devastating as
  harmful touch such as abuse, and hitting
• No Touch policies can lead children to
  dangerous situations where they are unfamiliar
  with appropriate touch and thus, more vulnerable

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Summary

• Teachers are afraid to touch because it might be
  misconstrued
• Men in early childhood settings are under more
  scrutiny and sometimes avoid all touch

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Summary

• Schools need appropriate policies regarding touch
• Partnership with parents is needed
• Educate children and parents

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Web Sites

• The Importance of Touch http//www.karger.com/gaze
  tte/67/Field/art_4.htm
• Keys to Building Attachment with Young children
  http//www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/famsci/fs631w.htm
• The Importance of Touch httplibrary.adoption.com/
  parenting-skills/the-importance-of-touch/article
  /3060/1.html