I want to talk a few minutes to those of you parenting violent children. I get numerous emails every week from frustrated parents who want effective parenting methods to steer their violent children in the right direction.

What I basically mean here is that there are instances when children as young as 5 or 6 years old end up talking back, hitting, and verbally and physically abusing other children, when things start to go wrong. These are, quite simply, children with violent inclinations.

I find that most parents are simply at a loss when it comes to dealing with this and lots of them have just been trying to ignore the violent behavior and hope that it is a passing phase in their youngsters. However, this is seldom the case.

Children, who are violent at a very young age, often grow to be bullies in school, violent teenagers, and can even end up becoming violent spouses.

This is a problem that parents must aggressively address while the child in still growing up. Violent behavior should be associated with different consequences. Young children should be reprimanded for their violent behavior and verbal and physical abuse even if they are as young as 5 or 6 years old.

You should explain to your child that this behavior is wrong, and an appropriate consequence should also be given at the same time.

In doing so, children understand that violence isn’t the answer to solving their problems, and they will then look for more socially acceptable methods for fitting into society. Besides, a child that behaves well is likely to grow into a well-behaved teen, and a well behaved adult.

An important part of effective parenting is addressing these problems at the onset because violent children cannot miraculously change on their own. If left on their own, and without the proper guidance, chances are that they will only worsen.

Another important realm to look into is the media and toys your child watches and plays with. There is no lack of violence in even the cartoons he might be watching on Saturday mornings. So start investigating and monitor closely what your violent children are watching and the toys they are playing with.

If you find toys and media that are indeed inappropriate, part of effective parenting is replacing the unacceptable items with appropriate ones. You cannot take something away from them without replacing it with something of equivalent interest.

It is important that you have various consequences ready to hand out for instances of violence.

When used appropriately, you will notice that problems such as these can be handled in an easy and reasonable manner.