Parental Guidelines on Managing and Treating Jealousy among Children

January 21, 2007

Managing and treating jealousy among young children is a problematic and sensitive situation for parents that require tact and diplomacy. More so, if you yourself have not undergone through sibling rivalry and jealousy incidents during your own childhood days.

Jealousy among siblings stimulates powerful emotions among the children themselves and the parents involved that, if left unchecked may sometimes lead to a lifetime of negative attitude towards the favored brother or sister in latter years.

How should parents go about treating jealousy in a proactive manner? Simply acquaint yourself with the following tips and guidelines and you will not go wrong.

Always treat children as individuals and not simply as a collective group of young members of the family. No matter their age, each child has a unique individuality and shows this in the way he sleeps, eats, plays and relates with people around him. Each child should be treated differently according to his/her temperament.

Avoid comparing one child with another. No person is the same as another, so there is really no basis for comparison. If you don’t like what your child is doing, simply tell him/her that you do not like it instead of saying that why can’t he/she be like her younger sister or like the neighbor’s kid. This will make your child harbor resentment against another person, and this is not an effective way of treating jealousy.

Learn how to nurture and develop the skills of your children. If your child is aware that you are supportive of his skills and talents, you are building up his self-esteem and making him/her more successful in life later on. Your support, be it of athletic, creative and artistic or educational talents is a sure fire way of treating jealousy between children and maintains the needed balance among them.

Make sure to spend quality time with each kid. Your kids will only be kids for a short time, spend as much quality time with them as you possibly can to develop the necessary closeness. The time spent by parents with their kids is the well of strength children draw on when they become adults and have children of their own.

Be firm and accurate when it comes to defining the limits and extent of your personal space and theirs. Teach your children self respect and respect for others so they do not overstep their unseen boundaries later on in life.

Treating jealousy and managing it effectively as early as possible is one way of building up your children’s strength of character and making them more responsible members of the community of men.

Posted by Vincent Yim | Filed Under Moral Values, Parenting