An effective guidance approach is preventive because it respects feelings even while it addresses behavior. Adults need to understand the reasons for children's behavior. A supportive relationship between an adult and a child is the most critical component of effective guidance. Adults use forms of guidance and group management that help children learn self-control and responsiveness to the needs of others. Adults model appropriate expression of their feelings.
Adults continue to learn even as they teach.
The guidance techniques that follow provide tips to remember in stressful situations. It is important to see children as part of the total family system. Sacrificing everything for their sake is probably not a wise long-term decision or investment. Parents also have needs that must be met. Urie Bronfenbrenner, a renowned child developmentalist, suggests that every child needs to have people who are really crazy about him who love him with all their hearts.