4 year old boy

I have taught this child in preschool since he was two years old and have been concerned about his social/ emotional development.  Basically, he seems to have no empathy and is not the least bit bothered by others who are yelling, crying, pleading because of some action he has committed.  He will rarely make eye contact with me when I discuss his behavior.  He is smart and has learned what to tell me when I ask what he could do differently next time.  He will watch someone build something, see them turn their head, and then run over and knock it down.  He will either blame someone else or say he did it because it was fun.  He has pushed people off of trikes and hit people repeatedly until I have had to physically stop him - even when he sees me coming towards him, he just looks at me and keeps hitting the person.  He is a sweet boy but I am worried he will get rejected by his peers for making them so mad and that he will never develop any appropriate empathy for other living things.  I have tried sending him home, removing privileges, behavior modification, I don't know what else to do for this child and his family.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Dear Lisa,

This type of aggressive behavior, unresponsive to your efforts at management, warrant additional intervention. While some aggressive behavior is not particularly unusual in pre-schoolers, who are in the process of learning about social behavior and about curbing their impulses, in the average child it is responsive to common-sense limit-setting, discipline and other forms of behavior management. It would be sensible to urge the parents to seek an evaluation by a pediatric behavioral health professional.