The Relationship Between positive Child behavior and verbal Abuse Presented by

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the level of verbal violence and its relationship to the level of positive behavior among students attending day schools in Wasit Governorate during the 2024/2025 academic year, encompassing students of both genders. To achieve the research objectives, the researcher employed the descriptive research methodology, as it is best suited for obtaining accurate results by describing the phenomenon exactly as it exists in reality. Furthermore, the researcher reviewed relevant studies and literature similar to the current investigation to inform the procedures and steps of the research. The researcher utilized a scale of his own design, which was administered to a sample of day-school students selected via a stratified random sampling method with equal selection probability. After establishing the validity and reliability of the scale and statistically analyzing the collected data, the researcher arrived at several findings. These findings indicated that students in these schools exhibit levels of verbal violence, while a significant number of them also demonstrate positive behavior. Moreover, the results revealed no significant differences between male and female students regarding either verbal violence or positive behavior. It was further demonstrated that there exists a strong, positive correlation between these two variables. In light of these findings, the researcher recommended organizing awareness seminars for parents regarding the negative impacts that verbal violence inflicts upon students—specifically, the feelings of vulnerability it engenders and the resulting loss of a sense of self-worth and self-esteem. There is a pressing need to activate the role of educational supervision in addressing the phenomenon of verbal violence. This can be achieved by organizing workshops for teachers, school principals, and parents, with the aim of curbing—to the greatest extent possible—the proliferation of this phenomenon among students. Furthermore, it involves raising awareness among schoolteachers and training them to frame competition as a constructive avenue through which students can experience joy and satisfaction, within an atmosphere characterized by love, compassion, and encouragement. Indeed, positive behavior must be preceded by a purposeful, systematic, and values-based educational process that instills respect for differing opinions, freedom of expression, and teamwork. Moreover, positive verbal stimuli play a pivotal role in fostering positive competition; when reinforcements are positive, the student is more likely to repeat the desired behavior in the future. Consequently, this serves as a call to schoolteachers to make greater use of moral (verbal) reinforcements with their students, given the effective role such reinforcements play in fostering development and motivating appropriate behavior.