7yo thinks hurting people is funny

[frannikin]

My charge often plays with a 7yo boy who seems to think that hurting people (ranging from squeezing them to sitting on them to punching them) is really funny. Whenever I catch him I do call him on it, explain that it's not nice, that he is hurting whoever it is and he just laughs at me. He does this to his AP as well but she's a very sweet person and doesn't really stand up to him.

I'm not sure whether it's just that he finds it genuinely funny, whether he's embarassed at being caught or whether it's something else.

Obviously I'm not his parent, his AP has no idea how to deal with it, anyone got any ideas? Please help as it's getting beyond annoying and towards very stressful.

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What's an AP ??

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I'd tell her that you can't let them play together unless it's sorted out and suggest next time it happens you sit both boys down with and talk to them. Get your boy to explain that it hurts, ask aggressive kid why hurting someone is funny? Get both to agree that it's a bad way to be, and say if it happens again, aggressive kid's au pair will have to tell his parents. I'd bet it'll stop and she might be ever so grateful for the support. Poor woman.

Yes AP is au-pair (sorry!)

I don't know about naughty step - do you think I can do that to someone else's child? I know that my own charge won't stay there though, but we have a different behaviour management programme in place!

He won't answer why it's funny, he just looks at me and giggles. We have talked to him about it - me, my charge and his AP - and my charge isn't backwards about coming forwards IYSWIM.

I feel really sorry for his AP sometimes but then again she is ever so slightly wet. She's younger than me, although not by that much, but if at 21 a child I was looking after had done that I'd definitely have kicked off and tried to do something. She just says "don't be mean, it's not nice to do that, it hurts and X doesn't like it" and leaves it at that.

I'm not sure whether her French isn't good enough to tell him off but mine certainly is, I have and he just ignores me.

I don't want to stop the boys playing together because they are quite good friends (save this small issue) and sit next to each other at school etc.