Most parents don’t want to shame, punish or humiliate their children, but they’re not sure what to do to help them behave properly. Although behavior modification is hotly debated among experts, most agree that children need clearly defined limits. As a parent who wants to raise your child to get along with others, how do you define limits and what should you do when rules are broken? 

Behavior management, also called behavior modification, attempts to guide and motivate children and adolescents to change their actions or interactions in certain settings. Implementing behavior management includes identification of the problem or negative behavior, alterations to the environment to reduce the negative behavior, positive reinforcement to encourage the new behavior and negative reinforcement to discourage the inappropriate action. Clarity and consistency is the essence of child behavior management which means the rules must be few, simple and clear.  Behavior management planning may include behavioral analysis and data collection, education and role playing, or with older children or adolescents the institution of contractual agreements. If applied correctly, behavior modification techniques are very successful. When applied inefficiently or inconsistently, however, the result can be less than desired change. Often, behavior management is combined with parent coaching.  The parent coach, utilizing behavior management techniques, encourages families to look at all aspects of helping their child change, not just through consequences and discipline.