Child discipline: approaches and effectiveness

Corporal Punishment, Time-Out, And Other Forms of Child Discipline

This paper is presented in the format of an outline. It discusses the issue of child discipline including corporal punishment, time-out, and other methods.

The issue of child discipline has been a topic of hot debate for many years.

The 1960's brought about a revolutionary change in the way children were disciplined. Today there are many methods to chose from and it is an extremely personal and individual decision.

Many variables are involved including the way the parents were disciplined, the cultural influence involved and the way the parents friends discipline their children.if one's parents used corporal punishment then they may see it as a useful and effective tool for the purpose of discipline. If parents did not use corporal punishment the adult may decide against it because they were not raised with it. The use of corporal punishment is also a highly cultural thing. If one grew up watching other children disciplined using it or another method then one might be more inclined to follow the practice of their discipline.

Parents may also rebel against the way they were disciplined as children and decide to use the opposite approach for their own children.

Child discipline is a highly volatile topic and one that has divided families, ruined friendships and caused arguments among co-workers and strangers alike.

1. Whether to spank, time out or ignore behavior can be a stress producer in social as well as formal situations.

How one decides to discipline will inevitably bring disagreements from well meaning people who believe their methods to be the best methods available.

Some people use corporal punishment as a means of discipline

Others believe that the best method is time out Some parents practice ignoring the undesirable behavioir and rewarding the desirable behavior.

Various Methods of Discipline

Corporal Punishment

Using corporal punishment used to be the only method parents used to discipline their children. A swat or two on the rear was given when the child acted up or misbehaved. In addition there were switches, paddles and belts that were often incorporated in the discipline regime.

About 1960 parents around the nation began to rethink the use of corporal punishment and a grass roots movement took hold to stop its practice.

Those who use it believe that it is an effective discipline tool when used correctly.

4. "The movement has grown and today there are heated debates, groups who lobby for its cessation, and people who believe that corporal punishment is assault on a child. According to a recent New York Times article, some school districts and states insist that corporal punishment is necessary to maintain order. As sickening as it seems, it was reported that corporal punishment is a treasured tradition in the South (Baharian, 2001). "

Time Out Parents who choose not to use corporal punishment or those who use a variety of methods often choose the time out method of discipline.

Time out is a method by which the child is removed from the area of infraction for a specified amount of time. The child is expected to wait in time out for the predetermined number of minutes before being allowed to resume the previous or any other activity.

Experts recommend that time out be clocked at one minute for every year of the child's age. Therefore a three-year-old would go to time out for three minutes, a five-year-old would be expected to remain in time out for five montues.

Parents often designate a place or a chair at home for time out use and the child is expected to go to the time out area when instructed to do so.

Children may refuse to go to the time out area which is one of the draw backs of the time out method, but most parents report if the child has been raised with the time out method of discipline they accept their time out without rebelling.

Ignoring the behavior

Some parents opt to use the ingoring method for inapporiate behaviors. The child does something inappropriate and the parents ignore the action. When the child is doing something that is acceptable and appropriate the parents reward this behavior.