Washington D.C.: If you think that your kids are getting involved physical fight and violence, then you can play an important part in stopping it.
Researchers from Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute suggested that addressing the parents’ attitudes about fighting, involving them in violence prevention programs and tailoring programs to different racial/ethnic groups may improve the effectiveness of prevention programs.
In the study, researchers found Latino parents condoned fighting only as a last resort while some African American parents stated that fighting is sometimes necessary. Previous studies had suggested such views among parents are likely to lead to higher rates of fighting among youth.
Latino parents in the study said they taught their children the consequences of fighting, how to regulate emotions and nonviolent means for resolving disputes.
African American parents in the study endorsed nonviolent methods but expressed some doubts about the effectiveness of such strategies. African American parents also suggested corporal punishment as a method to prevent fighting.
But they acknowledged that this is only a short-term strategy.
Researcher Rashmi Shetgiri said that in addition to addressing parental views about fighting, their study suggests that teaching parents and adolescents how to effectively use nonviolent methods to resolve conflicts and increasing their use of these methods may help reduce violent altercations among African American and Latino teens.
She added that they also determined that involving all the influential members of a teens’ community from teachers to peers can also be beneficial.
She said violence prevention programs could be more effective by tailoring them to different racial/ethnic groups, such as addressing African American parents’ communications with their children about the acceptability of fighting and recognising the prominent role of the family among Latinos.
The study is published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies.