How could you help a disruptive child?

Disruptive children are often seeking attention, but have learned a negative way to get attention. The counsellor has to find out the core problem.

There may be signs that the disruptive child does not make friends easily. They may be standing by themselves in the playground (and initial observation can be very revealing for the counsellor). It may be because of their feelings of inadequacy. Or they may have moved school.

The child may feel excluded from a certain peer group. The group may not accept them because their mum does not have the right kind of accent. Their dad may not be working. Their mum may be aggressive and not like other mums. She may always be the last to collect her child.

Or the child may have a macho father who fosters aggression. He may tell his child that boys must be ‘like a man’.

Small children can be neurotic attention-seekers. This can stem from family rows, from the break-up of the parents’ marriage, or the death of a parent. Sometimes the child may believe they are not loved, or they may be jealous of a sibling, believing that the sibling gets more attention.