Behavior

If I could classify the commands we parents give to our children, there would be three categories: before, during and after. · Before they do something wrong. ("Don't touch that!") · During the act. ("What do you think you're doing?") · After the deed is done. ("Don't just stand there staring at it. Grab a rag and clean it up!") At times, parents can feel that their primary role is to issue a series of instructions, repeatedly. After all, we know that once is never enough.

Good parents know how to interpret behavior - by Dr. James Dobson Question: You have described the nature of willfully defiant behavior and how parents should handle it, but does all unpleasant behavior result from this deliberate misbehavior? Dr. Dobson: No. Disobedience can be very different in origin from the "challenging" response I've been describing. A child's antagonism and negativism may emanate from frustration, disappointment, fatigue, illness or rejection and must be interpreted as a warning signal to be heeded.

Hagerstown Community College will offer a professional seminar, "Detection, Intervention and Treatment of Self-Injurious Behavior," Friday, Feb. 13, from 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at the Merle S. Elliott Continuing Education and Conference Center. The program, presented in collaboration with Brook Lane, will examine types of self-injurious behaviors, factors that contribute to self-injury, detection, intervention and treatment. Self-injury, listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a symptom of borderline personality disorder and depressive disorders, is a type of abnormal behavior characterized by the deliberate injury of body tissue without conscious suicidal intent.

A prison is a dismal place. Its entire physical environment is designed solely for the purpose of human confinement. It is a place where "control" rules. The roles of the keeper and the kept in a prison setting are learned almost like the actors of a Broadway play, but these characters are influenced more than you might think by their environment. Consider the following. In 1971 at Stanford University, a psychology professor by the name of Philip Zambardo performed a very interesting experiment.

Bester Elementary School teacher Angie Nallo sprays water on fifth-grade students during Beach Day. The students were rewarded with the outside fun for having good behavior during the school year.

kristinw@herald-mail.com When it comes to troubled youth, Amanda Matt has seen it all. As a family intervention specialist with the Institute for Family Centered Services in Hagers-town, she has seen teens enter the juvenile justice system. And she's watched as teens are removed from their families. But she's also seen children and families stop the downward cycle of rebellion and bad behavior to turn their lives around. The key is early intervention and family involvement, she says.

Dog trainer, behavior consultant and author, Pat Miller, will present a seminar at the Humane Society of Washington County on Wednesday, June 21, from 7 to 9 p.m. She will talk about dog training, behavior modification and management, and how dogs think and learn. Miller is the owner of Peaceable Paws in Fairplay, author of "The Power of Positive Dog Training" and "Positive Perspectives"; training editor for The Whole Dog Journal, and past president of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers.

Begin with the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Corrine Gregory believes that's the first step in teaching manners to children. "If you go back to the Golden Rule, you will be able to get through situations and not embarrass yourself or other people," says Gregory, founder and director of The PoliteChild in Seattle. "It's about making people feel special, how to leave a positive impression rather than a negative one. " A child who is taught to think of others' feelings will learn how to practice kindness, consideration and empathy, says Gregory, who teaches children, tweens and teens good behavior, manners and etiquette.

Following are tips for parents to help prevent cyberbullying: · Keep your home computer(s) in easily viewable places, such as a family room or kitchen. · Talk regularly with your child about online activities in which he or she is involved. · Talk specifically about cyberbullying and encourage your child to tell you immediately if he or she is the victim of cyberbullying, cyberstalking, or other illegal or troublesome online behavior. · Encourage your child to tell you if he or she is aware of others who might be the victims of such behavior.

Behavioral healing at InnerBeyouty is from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan 6, at InnerBeyouty: The Mystical Magical Metaphysical Shoppe, 57 S. Potomac St., downtown Hagerstown. Behavioral healing helps with the release of karma contracts, proclamations/declarations, Chakra/aura realignment, relationship release, disconnecting negative energies or attached spirits and the release of emotions causing negative behaviors in humans and pets. For more information, contact Kristin Tamke at 301-606-3915 or behavioralhealing@gmail.com

Marines Corps League thanks ball attendees To the editor: The Antietam Detachment of the Marine Corps League, Hagerstown, Md., wishes to thank all the attendees, Marines, associates and friends of Marines for their attendance at the 237th Marine Corps Ball on Nov. 10. We, as you, had a great and memorable time. We all enjoyed the camaraderie and esprit de corps. Please make plans to join us again next year for this formal event and military ceremony. Clark Mayer Hagerstown Remember, stadium is for more than just baseball To the editor: Regarding the encouraging article, “New stadium idea pitched,” I'd like to remind Washington Countians that it will be a new multi-use complex.

A coalition says it has gathered a wealth of helpful information about Washington County health-care needs. The Health Improvement Coalition's work hopefully will lead to positive changes, said co-chair Allen Twigg, the director of behavioral sciences for Meritus Health. The group capped a yearlong period of research by releasing a report on its findings on Thursday at Robinwood Professional Center. In January, the coalition - which includes representatives from several local health and social-service organizations - held a community health summit.

The Greater Waynesboro Chamber of Commerce in early December will offer “Understanding People's Behavior,” a breakfast seminar focused on customer service. Led by Dick Marks, developer of relational skills series “The Friendliest Place in Town,” the seminar will be from 8 to 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5, in the chamber office, 5 Roadside Ave. The seminar will help those who attend develop their ability to recognize strengths and weaknesses in themselves and others; improve their rapport with others; and improve their self-confidence in relationships, according to a news release.

Shepherd University is hosting an autism workshop "Creating Inclusion in the Classroom" featuring Amy Bryan-Chapman, autism coordinator and behavior specialist for Berkeley County Schools, Saturday, Nov. 17, at the Erma Ora Byrd Hall on campus. The workshop will have two sessions.  The first is an overview of autism spectrum disorders, and the second will cover strategies for easing transition, change, and scheduling for students with autism. Areas to be discussed during the workshop include identifying behaviors, developing strategies and lesson plans for scheduling and transitions, discovering the impact of autism on developmental skills, and learning how autism affects the ability to learn.

Brook Lane and Washington County Schools are sponsoring the seminar, "Working with Children and Adolescents with Disruptive Behavior Disorders," Monday, Aug. 20, at Smithsburg High School Auditorium, 66 N. Main St., Smithsburg. Check-in is at 7:30 a.m. The seminar is from 8 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. The seminar is for educators, mental health professionals and parents who work with children or adolescents who have disruptive behavior disorders. The seminar will discuss mild, moderate and severe disorder and conduct disorder and offer some interventions to better manage disruptive behaviors in and outside the classroom.

As I read the newspaper and await the next horrific headline which details the sadistic behavior of one human against another human, I pause to study those characteristics of good and evil. Why are people prone to committing violent and shocking acts against other people? As I attempt to examine this question, I am reminded of an old Cherokee story that perhaps provides as good an answer as any great book on behavior that tries to do the same. The story goes something like this: One evening an old Cherokee Indian told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

The first of serial rapist Pov Srun's known crimes became the last to be prosecuted when the former Hagerstown man pleaded guilty Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court to the 1998 rape of a Smithsburg woman. "I deserve to never breathe another free breath," said Srun, who pleaded guilty to first-degree rape. Washington County Circuit Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. sentenced Srun to 85 years in prison.   "I want to apologize to everyone in this wonderful country for my selfish behavior," Srun said, reading from a hand-written statement.

History coughs up plenty of precedent for modern bad behavior. Politics is dirty today, but not as dirty as it was through much of the 19th century. Business is diabolically heartless today - often at the expense of the average person - but no more diabolical than the Robber Barrons of the Guilded Age. Anyone who believes the voyeurism on the 21st century is appalling should read up on Stanford White. O.J. Simpson only wishes he could get that much publicity. So anyone witnessing America's apparent freefall on multiple fronts can take heart that it could, and has been, worse.

Often when working toward a fitness goal, desire can actually conflict with belief. What you want to happen can conflict with what you are currently experiencing. This can cause an uncomfortable internal conflict, known as "cognitive dissonance," which will - as you'll soon see - can lead to the creation of subconscious mental defenses that will kill your progress. Your mind is programmed to make whatever you believe the correct belief - no matter what information is presented to the contrary.