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T.Y. Okosun, Ph.D.
Northeastern Illinois University
5500 N. St. Louis, Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 583-4050 Ext. 6559
Violent behavior arises from numerous factors, such as insanity and social deformity. This presentation will focus on the social aspect of violent behavior and explore several ways to approach the reality of violent behavior using an early intervention education process in children from 0-4 years. I shall be concerned with the family's role in developing positive self-conception, self-control (which includes air management and the art of patience), and academic education as indispensable foundations in children. How do we utilize the family platform to respond to behaviors that would eventually guide children in positive directions?
For instance, the absence of several foundations, such as family support and family valuation, often results in anti-social responses which can become violent. Self-conception is concerned with the ways children understand themselves within the family and the society. The role of the family is to consistently teach children that they are special and important, and that family members, people, and resources are a part of the dynamic of a coherent social life. Focusing on positive valuation of people and resources helps to minimize and in some cases eliminate the trashing mentality. The trashing mentality has no sense of positive value attached to self, family, people or material things.
Naturally, self-control compliments self-conception. within the dynamic of self-control, several easy tomplement positive ways of controlling behavior will be discussed and demonstrated. The constant practice (through modeling, teaching, and consistent intervention) of respect, patience, understanding, courage, truth-telling or objective justice-seeking, and dialogue (discuss everything) carried out in a coherent fashion, teaches children early how to control their behavior using appropriate responses. Special consideration will be given to the role that patience plays in developing children's sense of response to situations.
The final part of the presentation concentrates on the significance of academic education. In addition to showing how to engage children academically, I shall demonstrate that children who are consistently plugged into academic disciplines develop early reading and mathematical skills, become impassioned with learning, and are more likely to preoccupy themselves with productive activities. Through academic education, children learn early to sit and listen, and to carry-out instructions in their studies. These children, as well as forming positive characters, gradually learn time management, patience, and the value of knowledge. The family's role as parent-teacher is to consistently link children to qualitative resources, and show them how academic education is relevant to all areas of social life. The early development of positive self-image, self-control, and academic passion in children between 0~ years, is less likely to move them in negative directions that eventually result in violent behavior. By 3 years of age, while fervently roaming libraries and museums for further development, children should have in place the initial foundations for respecting themselves, people and resources, and the ability to positively discuss situations and activities.
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