- Encouraging cooperation is more effective than demanding strict compliance from children
- Compliance can feel dictatorial, while cooperation fosters collaboration and mutual understanding.
- Children are more likely to follow directions if they feel they have a say in the process.
- Strategies include negotiating tasks, linking chores to enjoyable activities, and offering choices (e.g., which task to do first).
- This approach promotes long-term cooperative behavior and reduces power struggles between parents and children.
Getting Children to Cooperate
Cooperation, not compliance, grows when children feel heard and have choices in decisions that affect them.
Nina Sand-Loud, MD, Child Development
