Polly Bath: When children are called out on their behavior, they automatically blame others for whatever they did.

Could you imagine saying to a cop who pulled you over, “Well, they were all passing me! Why didn’t you stop them first?” No, we would never do that. Because blaming others for our behaviors doesn’t work in life.

We need to TEACH children to own their behaviors and not blame others.

If I have a child who hit someone, I will not let him go until he says, “I hit John.”

Not having kids own their behavior is disabling to them. It is impossible to change behavior if they don’t own it, because they will think it’s still someone else’s fault.