Page 28 - GM-Tanya the Tattling Rattler

This story also points out the need for other children who are more rational in their thinking to help teach the tattler more socially acceptable ways of dealing with frustration.
Unfortunately, some children seem to have a predisposition to be needy and have limited social skills. They may live in environments in which tattling gets a lot of attention and they are not encouraged to just accept that they are not going to always get their way.
Such a child may not see themselves as capable of dealing with distress and consider themselves to be a victim. They believe that they must have an adult (powerful figure) intervene and validate their self-worth.
Cosmos talks about the confusion we have about tattling. Sometimes you should tell a grown-up and other times you should just work it out. But Tanya’s reasons for telling on others were the result of her Stinky Thinking and her behavior was Thumbs Down. Help children understand that motivation such as getting even” is the result of Stinky Thinking. Therefore, it is not a justification or tattling behavior. In this situation their behavior is Thumbs Down.
You want to use this story to help children understand that learning how to get along with others may require some social skills (teaching) rather than demanding to have everything go your way. Tattling is often the result of the frustration caused when your expectation that something should go a certain way (they must share, choose me, play the game I like))and it doesn’t.
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