Spoilt children?

The topic of ‘spoiling children’ is a ‘hot potato’ and the most difficult topic to discuss with a parent that is spoiling their child. So what counts as spoiling, and what are the consequences?

A spoilt child will likely exhibit excessive, self-centered, and immature behaviour inability to handle the delay of gratification demands for having one's own way, becoming obstructive and manipulative.

Children can be ‘spoilt’ by having poor role models as parents. Parents that exhibit behaviours that lead the child into certain ways of thinking, or behaviours that are selfish and narcissistic, will result in poor consequence for them as adults.

This might well be the excess of material gifts or privileges, even when the child behaves in a poor manner. This includes failure to enforce reasonable behavior or putting in place boundaries. Failing to encourage the child to consider the effect of his behaviour on others.

Spoiling a child tends to create undesirable characteristic in a child that can persist and become fixed in later life. This can result in significant social problems. Spoiled children may have difficulty coping with situations such as responding to discipline at school. It can result in poor social skills ending up with few friends. Behaviors like refusing to allow friends to play with their toys and insisting on being ‘all powerful’ (a position they have been granted by a parent or parents) results in friends eventually refusing play dates with them. This can further extend to a loss in friends, failure in employment, and failure with personal relationships.