Mingming (pseudonym), aged 5, has a mother who works away from home year-round, leaving him primarily in the care of his father, Mr. Wang. Recently, after getting into a fight over a toy with another child and causing the other boy's face to swell, Mingming returned home to a barrage of scolding from Mr. Wang. But Mingming's next action left his father speechless—the boy had somehow obtained a needle and was stabbing it repeatedly into the back of his own hand.Mr. Wang snatched the needle away, but Mingming's small hand was already bleeding. This left Mr. Wang terrified.
Girl bangs head against wall after failing to get toy
Last weekend, a mother took her 4-year-old daughter, Yanyan (pseudonym), to a colleague's home to play with the colleague's little girl. Yanyan held her friend's doll and insisted her mother buy her one too.When her mother ignored her, Yanyan threw the doll and began banging her head against the wall. Her mother was horrified, and the colleague quickly gave the doll to Yanyan. After returning home and asking her grandparents, the mother learned that Yanyan had exhibited this behavior several times before.Dr. Lin Jun, Chief Physician and child psychologist at Wuhan Children's Hospital, analyzed that children may have inadvertently discovered in certain situations that hurting themselves causes parents to become anxious and fulfill their demands. Having received this reinforcing stimulus, they may continue to harm themselves to achieve their goals. If this is the case, parents should not panic when their child self-harms. Under safe conditions, they should divert the child's attention until their emotions return to normal, then offer comfort and reinforce positive emotions.