My son has suddenly become very rude

Dear Diana,
My son is 10 years old. He's good in his studies and, of late, he has been doing exceptionally well. I'm proud of him but lately he has also started back answering. We encourage him to express himself but he's taking his freedom for granted. Even his class teacher has been complaining that he behaves similarly at school too. He feels he's right and everybody else, wrong. I've tried arguing that he could be mistaken but he tries to convince me the exact opposite. I don't want to use force so I'm letting him learn on his own but I'm running out of patience. Besides, he's too young to know the benefits of being polite with elders. I'm a confused mother of an overconfident child.u00a0
- u00a0Sindhu


Illustration/ Satish Acharya

Dear Sindhu,
Your kid is only 10 years old but looks like success has gone to his head. As he has been doing exceptionally well in his studies, he thinks he is the cat's whiskers! You may have given him the freedom and the independence but as he is still young he does not know how to handle it. He is being continuously told that he is brilliant in his studies, so he feels he can behave in any way and get away with it. Encouragement is one thing but spoiling him by giving in to his demands should not be tolerated. His behaviour needs to be checked and he needs to be told that just because he is a topper at school does not mean that he can be all high and mighty with his behaviour towards his teachers and classmates.