![\"mom-and-dad-with-boy\"](\"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Gila_success_story_2017.png\")
Lydia Aguilar-Ott and her husband started taking parenting classes before their son was born.<\/p>\nLydia Aguilar-Ott and her husband started taking parenting classes before their son was born.<\/p>\n
They had heard over and over that even when parents aren\u2019t directly talking to their young children, kids are always watching and listening.<\/p>\n
By the time their son Vhon was almost age 2, they noticed that the toddler had started hitting other children. During a parenting class, they saw Vhon trying to hit another child with a toy hammer. That\u2019s when mom and dad started piecing together his behavior.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d be watching \u2018The Walking Dead\u2019 (a show about zombies), and Vhon would try to reenact a fighting scene,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
They realized that he was acting out based on what he was watching on television. At the next parenting class, the parents apologized for their son\u2019s behavior.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou may not think that they\u2019re watching what you\u2019re watching, because they\u2019re in and out of the room, but they hear it,\u201d Aguilar-Ott said. \u201cThey hear mom and dad laughing, and they think it\u2019s cool.\u201d It\u2019s these types of lessons that Aguilar-Ott has been learning through Teen Outreach Pregnancy Services, or TOPS. The program, which is funded by the First Things First Gila Region, works with pregnant mothers under age 24 to provide healthy pregnancy, childbirth and parenting education and support to families in Gila County.<\/p>\n
TOPS worked with the Globe mother from the time she was pregnant until she gave birth to Vhon and as he grew reaching developmental milestones.<\/p>\n
Aguilar-Ott soon switched to family-friendly shows and saw his behavior change. The family shows encouraged Vhon to help and now he feeds the family pets and helps mom in the kitchen.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"