Round Table Discussion

These, then, are two basic concepts which parents can well add to their viewpoint of the child and of childhood behavior: (1) that of emotional growth and (2) that of the emotional disturbances which children undergo when they cannot learn to satisfy their normal human needs in a reasonably socially acceptable way. It is worth emphasizing that you cannot understand a child's behavior until you know how he feels, and you cannot change his behavior until you know what can be done to change his feelings. Usually you cannot change his feelings until you understand what his needs are, and which needs, by his behavior, he is attempting to fulfill.