Developing Discipline Without Yelling, Spanking, Nagging, Or Time-outs!
Discipline For Children can be challenging. (c) Copyright – Elaine Richey. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
Parents do their best to teach their children basic respect, how to treat others, and right from wrong. There are just about as many different discipline methods as there are parents and no one method is right for every child. Many parents use time out discipline when their children misbehave and have success teaching their children in this way. Time out discipline can be effective if you keep the following guidelines in mind.
Time outs are appropriate when children do not follow rules, hit, push, or exhibit other unacceptable or dangerous behaviors. A time out gives a child a chance to think about what happened and how to act acceptably next time, if parents give them a clear message about what they did wrong and what the appropriate action should have been.
Time outs are most effective if they are used consistently and without multiple warnings. If parents tell their child over and over to stop doing something or stop breaking a rule, children will learn that they can go so far before they are punished. Giving children clear guidelines and enforcing time outs the first time they misbehave will save parents a lot of grief.
Because a time out is designed to give a child the chance to calm down and think about what happened the location of the time out is important. It should be away from the group, activity, or other objects or people that will distract them. A child’s bedroom is not usually a good place for time out because there are many things to distract them and the area is too large for them to have to sit still and think about the situation. Small areas such as a chair, corner, or hallway where children are removed but can remain supervised are usually better places.
It is important to tell children why they are being placed in time out so that they can understand what behaviors are wrong. It is equally important to tell children how they should have acted and give them clear suggestions on how to better handle the situation in the future. This will give them something to think about while in time out so that the time out acts as a learning experience.
Just like any discipline method, time outs do not work for every child but they can be valuable discipline tools for many children if they are used correctly. While a time out is a form of punishment the ultimate goal of any form of discipline should be to teach your child appropriate behavior so they can make good choices in the future.
