Behaviors are a reaction to something. If we
understand the reaction and the cause, we will
start to fully understand why children act a certain way
way. Behavior is all reactions to something, most
are an emotional feeling like fear, uncertainty,
happiness, excitement, and physical needs such as
hunger, sickness, and nervousness. You need to
detect the emotions behind the behavior to
understand the reaction.
We have all seen commercials and social media
about hanger. Hangry is when people get angry
because they are hungry. That also means for
children. Many times, in a classroom, kids get
hungry and don’t know how to express it, or
it takes them by surprise. So, the hangry behavior
can be deviant, ignoring directions, and
oppositional. Many times, the behavior is
misunderstood, and it is believed that children are
doing the behavior on purpose. However,
children are not doing the behavior on purpose.
They are not sure how to manage their hunger. If
possible, bring snacks to keep on hand for that
purpose or ask parents to send snacks for certain
children. The professional needs to detect the
reason behind the behavior to solve the problem.
Fears impact behaviors exponentially. We have
all seen and experienced how fear jolts our
behaviors. Many times, when children are so
fearful of tests, they do not do as well as we expect.
Fear inhibits our abilities, especially in managing
behavior, and the fear takes over. So, as
professionals, we need to observe behaviors and
identify the causes behind them.
