Behavior Risk Factors in Children
Risk Factors of Behavior Summary
Why are some children more challenging than others?
Be sure to address the following:
Identify and describe three risk factors which influence behavior (may include considerations of brain
development).
Discuss how each factor influences behavior.
Analyze strategies teachers may use to support the process of changing or replacing behaviors.
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Behavior Risk Factors In Children
Introduction
Some of the risk factors affecting behavior in children concern behaviorists and sociologists.
The existing question that arises is why some children perform better than others do. Not only
are they interested on behaviors of children to each other, but also on academic platforms.
Therefore, the following discussion will engage in identifying and analyzing some of these
risk factors. In addition, the paper will outline some of the indispensible strategies to be used
by teachers to deal with such factors
Discussion
Poverty is one of the risk factors to affect behavior. In fact, it affects a child’s academic
excellence, social behavior, and well-being. Those children who are reared in impoverished
setting do face the risk of developing challenging behaviors. This is attributed to the fact that
the children under these environments have a limited number of role models to orient them to
positive behavior. According to a research done by Matson (2009), teachers in U.S. find a
high rating of children aggression within classroom which is correlated to those children
being exposed to community violence. The author concludes by attesting that poverty in most
of the cases leads to such pessimistic outcomes as delinquency, school dropout/failure, and
violence.
Risk factor to negative behavior can also develop during pregnancy. Fetal alcohol syndrome,
which involves a woman taking alcohol during pregnancy, can have detrimental effects to a
child during early development. Alcohol taking during pregnancy leads to permanent
neurobehavioral and affective diseases that result to impaired central nervous system
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complication, behavior and cognitive malfunctions, as well as other physical disorders
(Willis, 2009). Combination of these complications brings a situation where a child develops
difficulty in verbal and nonverbal fluency. They exhibit a slow growth in cognitive
development. Their behavior might in some case do not correlate to their current age because
of the brain malfunction.
The other notable risk factor influencing behavior is violence. This factor goes hand in hand
with child maltreatment. According to a study done by Szigethy, Weisz & Findling (2012)
gives that U.S. records a high number of incidents where children are exposed to
psychological, sexual, and physical abuse. In fact, more than three million children in U.S.
are exposed to child maltreatment. This is catalyzed to the kids being introduced to all form
of violence through television news, cartoons, and games (Willis, 2009). Therefore, when
children are exposed to violence, whether directly or indirectly, they are more likely to
change their perceptive of the world and values to a negative approach. In the effect,
children’s ability to learn, to develop association with others, and ability to deal with stress is
impaired.
However, there are solutions to the above risk factors. Teachers can evade the detrimental
effects of poverty in affecting the behavior of children by consolidating help from different
stakeholders from the society to help the children affected. On top of that, the teachers should
encourage play between diverse and different children to develop skills that are impeccable to
address a common goal, instill respect for each other, and establish cooperation between
peers (Szigethy, Weisz & Findling, 2012). Those children who have developed violence-
related behaviors should be introduced to the concept of self-control. This is by discouraging
watching of violent games and cartoon, and encouraging the use of books that focus on
empathy and caring. Above all, dealing with the root problem is very important, and teachers
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should take an initiate to advise pregnant mothers to avoid alcohol drinking during pregnancy
to enhance affirmative cognitive development for the baby.
Conclusion
In summary, poverty, violence, and alcohol taking by pregnant mothers are one of the risk
factors affecting behaviors in children. When special considerations are focused to bail out
the affected children as well as those who are likely to develop bad behavior by such factors,
will ensure that positive behaviors are nurtured and developed. This will see that children
improve in both academic and in their social interactions in the society.
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References
Matson, J. L. (2009). Social behavior and skills in children. New York: Springer.
Szigethy, E., Weisz, J. R., & Findling, R. L. (2012). Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for
Children and Adolescents. Washington, D.C: American Psychiatric Pub.
Willis, C. (2009). Creating inclusive learning environments for young children: What to do
on Monday morning. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin Press.
