Preschoolers And Aggression

Aired Monday, November 20, 2006

By Gary Davis

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Anchor Lead: Preschool kids are getting more aggressive. It's a trend challenging everyone involved in early learning. As part of our series The Learning Curve, KPLU education reporter Gary Davis goes into the classroom to look at the ways parents, educators, and children are dealing with the problem of aggression.

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It's a busy Thursday morning at this preschool co-op at Edmonds Community College. Jody Collello is keeping a close eye on Dylan, her 3 year old son.

JC: That's my child.

What's he doing right now?

JC: He just gave Isabel a hug and pulled her down with him. I think he was giving her an aggressive hug.

Dylan's hug prompts an instant lesson on how to give an acceptable soft hug. His sometimes-aggressive behavior is normal for a 3 year old.

But teachers and parent educators at this preschool say they see an increasing number of kids with abnormally aggressive outbursts.

Gail Davenport directs the Family Life Education program at Edmonds Community College.

GD: They'll cry loudly or they'll scream. They'll hide, they'll run around and get under things. That's real alarming when you see children who are really struggling.

It's the preschool years that are crucial in identifying problem aggression for it to most effectively addressed. In typical development, aggression spikes between the ages of two and three.

Dr. Carolyn Webster-Stratton: And then around the ages of 3 and half to 4 it starts to come down in most children.

Dr. Carolyn Webster-Stratton is a professor of nursing at the University of Washington, and a founder of the UW's Parenting Clinic. She's published dozens of scientific articles on behavior intervention programs for highly aggressive and noncompliant children.

CWS: We have more younger children that are disruptive and teachers having trouble managing them in both day care centers and in kindergarten.

So why the increase in aggression? Dr. Webster-Stratton says there's no one cause.

CWS: Children's behavior problems were kind of hidden. Things to do with the environment — families who are having less support then in the days where there was more extended family. There's more violence on TV, music, computer games, and so on. It's very difficult to sort out all the factors.

Given the variety of potential causes, researchers and educators are focused on what can be done.

(Sound of angry kids in Committee for Children training video)

This is part of a training video created by the Seattle-based Committee for Children. They call their violence-prevention program Second Step. It's used in classrooms around the world. Second Step teaches the social and emotional skills of empathy, impulse control and problem solving.

The Committee for Children's Joan Cole Duffell says there's a reason it starts with empathy training.

JCD: You need to actually teach children to care about the needs of other people, stand in the shoes of another person, experience what if feels like to be on the other side of a problem, if you want them to be good problem solvers.

Duffell says our daily news headlines remind us of the consequences of ignoring social skills training.

JCD: Deciding that the way we solve problems is to pick up a gun and shoot someone is actually juvenile. This is how little kids would solve a problem, this isn't how grown adults should be solving problems.

Back at Edmonds Community College, Gail Davenport works closely with parents and kids to teach them skills that — like Second Step — start with empathy training.

GD: Occasionally we'll see a parent who sees most of that aggressive behavior directed between parent and child. Meaning the child will actually be clawing or striking out at the parent.

That was the case for Jody Collello and her son Dylan. Until recently, Jody was covered in welts — a painful result of Dylan's aggressive pinching.

JC: Gail taught me to, instead of saying, you know, 'Don't hurt mommy…no…that's not nice…oh that hurt me,' to just say, 'You don't hurt mommy!' And THAT has really worked. 'You don't hurt mommy.'

Gail Davenport says you can see the difference early skills training makes in kids by the time they start kindergarten.

GD: They're curious. They're happy learning. They're going to go off to school saying 'I'm a learner, and I'm confident, and I know I'm capable.' That's a good start to life.

And the best results, these educators agree, come when parents understand that learning these skills is best achieved when they take part.

Gary Davis, 88.5 KPLU.

We'd like to know your thoughts on this story. Do you think that teaching social and emotional skills at an early age is just as important as teaching science, math and other subjects? We'll air your opinions during Morning Edition next Monday, November 27th.

Call our listener feedback line, at 253.536.5008, or send us your views by e-mail. To do that, just go to our web site at KPLU.org, and click on The Learning Curve.