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Home › Articles › Appearance › Washed Out!

Washed Out!

Preteens and Hygiene

By Teri Brown

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"Tangible motivators external to the child, such as money or other items or rewards, can be important in teaching or reinforcing a child's behavior, although they should be used in a discriminating fashion," she says. "If a child is given a tangible motivator every time she or he completes a behavior that is expected and required, the child may learn that he or she gets 'paid' for normal, expected behaviors, thus inhibiting the child's ability to internalize and self-regulate the behaviors, because the motivation for performing the behaviors has been kept external to the child."

The ultimate goal is to have preteens internally regulate their own grooming behaviors over time. So tangible motivators might be best used on occasion when behaviors have been accomplished over a period of time, such as a reward for having done three out of five grooming behaviors correctly for a week.

Dr. McClanahan also says that verbal encouragement and praise from the parent is more important for the child to receive in terms of helping the child internalize the ability and desire to groom correctly. "Verbal encouragement and praise helps the child's self-esteem and is not external to the child, like money or other rewards like that," she says.

"Praise should not be excessive, because excessive praise can sometimes be perceived by the child as pressure or even as insincere. Finally, a parent should not assume that praise and encouragement is only needed once when it comes to learning good hygiene skills. A parent must pay attention and notice when the child is grooming correctly. Praise is then in order to reinforce the child's sense of mastery and self-esteem."

Help Them Help Themselves

Dr. McClanahan gives the following tips to help your preteen learn good hygiene habits that will last a lifetime.

  1. Appropriate verbal praise and reinforcement should be used frequently.
  2. Tangible, external rewards may be used selectively.
  3. Have a shopping trip and allow the child to have a voice in choosing what hygiene supplies he or she will use. There are many soaps, shampoos, toothbrushes, etc. available specifically to appeal to the preteen child. Being able to choose which to use can allow the child some sense of control of his or her hygiene and will increase the enjoyment of grooming.
  4. Have a hygiene chart placed on the wall or mirror in the child's bathroom where he or she can be reminded of what needs to be done without a parent having to verbally remind him or her constantly. The child might even keep a checklist of when to do the various hygiene items, and when the chart is completed, after a week or appropriate time interval, the tangible reward might be appropriate.
  5. Parents need to model appropriate hygiene for their children. Children learn what they see their parents do, not what their parents say.


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