How Do You Explain showing off in front of others?

Why Children show off

Showing off is laughing, being loud or acting differently in order to draw attention. Children may do this for a number of reasons:

Social interaction is really complex and children often feel insecure leading to them trying to impress others through their behaviour

Some children act the clown because they feel that getting others to laugh at them is a way of securing a positive relationship

Some children will take risks to show peers that they are brave, strong or mature. Again this is about establishing relationships within their social group

Some children will show off because they are copying their peers and want to identify with that group. Some children will show off because they have not learnt the contextual behaviour that is expected of them. Social rules can vary considerably depending on contextual factors such as: place, time, occasion and people involved

Social hierarchy - we behave differently depending on the status of the people we are interacting with. Your child may or may not show off depending on the comparative status of those that are around them. How secure and confident is your child?

Strategies to Reduce Showing off behaviour

Because social rules are really confusing and change depending on the context, (where you are, who you are with etc) it is important to help and support your child with understanding them. You can do this in a number or ways:

Debrief

Talk about situations where they have been showing off and why it is not acceptable

Write down rules

Writing down rules and expectations is a really useful way of clarifying what you mean and communicating it effectively

Praise

Regular praise helps to boost your child's self-esteem and makes them less likely to need to show off to gain attention. Also use praise to reward them for not showing off

Social Stories

Using social stories can be a useful way of supporting children to understand social rules and expectations