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Shadowcat
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30 Oct 2007, 1:04 pm

What is meant by "Acting Out?"

It is used to describe behavior in kids, but what behaviors are being discussed?

Also, how do you Parents out there, react when you, the Parent, are told this by a teacher about your child?



cagerattler
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30 Oct 2007, 1:43 pm

Acting out refers to the practice of externalizing frustration, anger, or other negative feelings by creating a disturbance in the environment. This could take the form of a temper tantrum, violence, rudeness, throwing things, and so forth. At least that's my understanding of the term, as applied to children or adults. I am not a parent so I will have to leave the second part of your question for others to address.



Cooper
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30 Oct 2007, 2:24 pm

Shadowcat wrote:
What is meant by "Acting Out?"

It is used to describe behavior in kids, but what behaviors are being discussed?

Also, how do you Parents out there, react when you, the Parent, are told this by a teacher about your child?


Not a parent, but I think you should press the teacher for more specific information: What behaviors ARE being discussed? Is there a pattern to when/where these behaviors happen? What consequences is the teacher applying to your child to discourage these behaviors. Once you know what the behaviors are, ask your child why he/she engages in these behaviors. (Assuming he/she is verbal or otherwise communicative enough to tell you.) Don't get angry at him/her yet: give him/her a chance to explain. If you can figure out why your child is "acting out", the problem will be much easier to solve.



alexbeetle
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30 Oct 2007, 2:43 pm

I think it just means doing anything the teacher doesn't want him to do.
When my son (NT) was 3years in nursery the teacher told me was wicked and just plain evil and should be taken to the doctor to see what was wrong with him - reason: he painted the outside of the paintpot with the paint instead of painting on the paper.
Eventually she wrote a two-side A4 letter to my gp about his appaling behaviour (ie result of being bored at nursery with a stupid teacher) and the gp just laughed and said he was a perfectly normal boy.


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KimJ
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30 Oct 2007, 3:39 pm

I agree with the above posters. "Acting out" means something different for different people. When a teacher uses a phrase like that or my favorite, "distracting others", I ask for specific examples and what was going on before the cited behavior.
"Acting out" to me is acting oppositional in a noticable way, shouting, cussing, hitting, refusing to do what everyone is doing. But like currency, it can be caused by a plethora of triggers. It can mean many things.



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30 Oct 2007, 5:30 pm

alexbeetle wrote:
I think it just means doing anything the teacher doesn't want him to do.
When my son (NT) was 3years in nursery the teacher told me was wicked and just plain evil and should be taken to the doctor to see what was wrong with him - reason: he painted the outside of the paintpot with the paint instead of painting on the paper.
Eventually she wrote a two-side A4 letter to my gp about his appaling behaviour (ie result of being bored at nursery with a stupid teacher) and the gp just laughed and said he was a perfectly normal boy.


The more I read about NTs the more I think that they are nutbars.