Shakin Bones Time…You don’t have to attend every power struggle you are invited to!
A power struggle is an individual need for control and/or power. Sometimes a child will do anything to attain power/control. Even if that means creating “hurt” or “chaos.”
Children who wish to attain power are looking for a variety of ways to achieve it. "Pushing buttons " is a very attractive and easy way for children to immediately receive power. They are looking for adults whose buttons are easily pushed.
Adults need to ask themselves:
· Do I have any control over it?
· Can I do anything about it?
· Is it really that bad?
· Will the world end if I don’t say or do something?
If you can’t answer yes to all of these, then stop getting involved in the struggle.
My observations of power struggles are that the more opportunities that exist in a child’s life to attain power, the fewer power struggles occur.
How do you know if you are in a Power Struggle? Does your body heat up? Is the hair on the back of your neck standing up? Are you saying to yourself, “I will make, you little ____? If so you have been hooked.
So many times children can solve their own power issues if adults avoid stepping in too early…Children cannot develop power unless we give them opportunities to practice self-control. Remember to ask yourself before you engage in the power struggle, “Will the World End, if I don’t step in?”
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