Taming the tattles

The tattle log

Dionne Sincire, a teacher in Fullerton and mom of three, incorporates a tattle journal into her kids' routine. "I hate tattling," she said. "To discourage it, I created a 'tattle log' that includes four questions that the child must write into a journal."

The tattler must answer these questions:

•What happened?

•How did it make you feel?

•What did you think would happen after you told?

•What will you do differently next time?

"I've found this approach to be successful at decreasing tattling for many reasons," Sincire said. "My kids don't like writing, so they're motivated to solve their own problems without intervention. The prompts are meant to be self-reflective, so they learn to evaluate their triggers.

"It emphasizes changing the tattler's behavior. I can read the initial offense and address it if necessary, or put it in the 'circular file.' This system has caused my kids to think twice before tattling, which is the greater goal."

Whatever method you use, be consistent. It might be impossible to curb tattling altogether, but with a little intervention you can encourage your children to work things out for themselves.

Before having kids, whenever I heard moms correct their children for tattling, I always thought,

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