I heard once that all behavior is either a cry for help or an expression of gratitude, a please or a thank you.
I used to work with kids who had severe "behavior problems." By "behavior problems" I mean that their behavior was a problem for the adults in their lives. I remember one little boy that I was assigned to work with. He was six years old with red hair, freckles and a reputation for spitting on people when he was angry. He was usually angry.
As I got to know his family, it was easy to see why. His mom and dad were ill equipped for the task of parenting and the kids were chronically deprived. Spitting, for my little friend, was a way of telling the world just how unsafe he felt.
I sometimes try to imagine a world where instead of punishing my little friend we would see past his behavior to the pain. What would happen if we all decided to love him anyway?
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