Teaching Humanity Remotely with Dr. Mindy Shaw - Ep. 171

In this fascinating episode, Dr. Shaw tackles the slippery slope of children who have a habit of tattling, often on other children.  Per her analysis, there are several angles to this common situation, but her key recommendation is to keep children focused on the positive aspects of life and not the negative.  It is very easy for a parent or teacher to fall into the trap of responding to the tattling by reprimanding the "culprit" or the person who was tattled on, when in fact that kind of reaction only serves to reinforce more tattling.  Attention needs to be paid to what children do correctly, and pointing out or pointing to one's negative behavior will not have positive results.   The reinforcement needed is the marking and noting of positive behaviors and that will steer the child into a better place where they can foster better and more productive relationships.