ABSTRACT
Parents, child care workers, teachers, counselors, babysitters or others spend much of their energy and thought trying to influence young people's behaviors. Much of the time these efforts proceed rather smoothly. There are, however, moments in every caregiver's daily work with children or adolescents when the adult in charge feels at a loss, or at her or his wit's end. And the adult is then uncertain in which way to influence a child's or a group of youngsters' behaviors. "What to do!" is frequently the frantic thought. At such moments, adults tend to faH back upon their standby influence "tools" such as verbal command, threat, or even in desperation, physical interfercnce. Each one of these can be valid techniques; but usually not in a moment of crisis. These standard tools tend to be overuscd and not espccially fitting for thc moment.
