Nobody’s perfect and all children will have bouts of bad behaviour, but when things start to get out of hand, it is important to seek professional help.  The difficulty for many parents is knowing how to distinguish between behaviour that is part of a child’s normal development and that which should be cause for concern.

For example, it is quite normal for a child to be tempted to take a dollar out of his/her mother’s purse, if they do so guiltily and later feel remorse.  It’s also common for children to become sassy and answer back to their parents or other caregivers.

Other behaviours may indicate an underlying problem that needs attention.  A child who repeatedly steals money from his/her parents, has started to shoplift, or is showing a consistent pattern of disobedience, nastiness, or argumentativeness, may suffer from a behaviour disorder, such as oppositional defiant disorder.

More serious problems can emerge when children start to engage in physical or social aggression towards other children or adults.  This could be a sign of conduct disorder.

Children who are disobedient, fail to complete homework assignments, or who can’t sit still in school may have Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

As a general rule of thumb, a child’s behaviour problems warrant professional help if they are persistent and prolonged enough to interfere with his/her ability to function at home or at school.  A word of caution, though.  Children can start acting out in response to other stresses in their lives, so it is important to know if the behaviour problem started when mother became sick, or when grandma died, or when the child’s parents announced their divorce.   Professional help might be in order if reassurance and care during stressful times don’t alleviate the child’s symptoms.