Back Talk

One of the things a child is sure to do at some point or another is to talk back to their parents or other adult. There are, in my opinion, two ways to prevent back talk. The first one is to listen to your child. Often children back talk because it's the only way they can get their opinion out there and listened to. The second way is to respect your child. Respect is a two-way street and if you show your child respect they will show it to you because you'll be modeling how to show respect.

 Back talk can also happen as the result of a power struggle. This is why I say listen to your child. Sometimes they have ideas that work and may work better than what your idea was. Pick your battles. Often back talk occurs because a parent has chosen to fight a battle that they need to let go. Consider whether or not you have a legitimate reason for telling your child no and not letting them do something a particular way. A parent doesn't need to control everything and shouldn't, so let go of control-empower your children and let them do something the way that makes sense to them instead of how you tell them to do it.

The website positive parenting solutions has an article on their site that gives five steps to put the brakes on back talk. Here is a link to it if anyone is interested.

5 steps to put the brakes on back talk