Children usually behave ‘badly’ for a reason. Working out what’s going on can feel frustrating when your patience is already tested. Subsequently, understanding the reason makes it easier to help children.

We often hear children’s behaviour described as being challenging. However, many people who work with children prefer to think of this as a child signalling their distress.

Distressed behaviour is different from the normal everyday behaviour of children.

It tends not to be a one-off. Distressed behaviour is a serious ongoing issue for parents and children. In fact, a child showing distressed behaviour demonstrates their distress through actions which are risky or harmful to themselves or others.

Distressed behaviour can take many forms, including:

• aggression
• anger
• physical and verbal abuse
• refusal to stick to boundaries or rules
• self harm or injury

Subsequently, distressed behaviour can have serious consequences for you and your child, including:

• risks to themselves or others
• breakdown of relationships
• emotional and physical impacts
• Therefore impacts on enjoying life including school, friends and experiences.