As we continue our series on behavior issues, it would be bad to not include the following video as our introduction to the issue of biting:

By the way, if you are in kidmin and are unfamiliar with Yo Gabba Gabba, shame on you! 🙂

Biting

Proactive:

–  lots of time biting occurs because little ones are fighting over a toy.  Consider providing duplicates of popular toys.

–  recognize that biting usually occurs because kids don’t know how to handle their frustrations or emotions.  Usually it is not malicious.

Do’s:

–    handle immediately with a consequence

–   inform the parents of the biter and the bitten.  You do not have to tell the parents of the bitten one who the culprit was, and it is probably wisest not to.

–   provide an extra youth or adult to supervise the biter more closely for a little while

Don’ts: 

– don’t bite the biter.  Aw, we shouldn’t have to say that, right?  But older generations or even current mamas may need to be reminded.  While that may work in individual’s homes, it is a pretty terrible plan in a church or classroom setting.

Cell phones