by Rachel Howells

Created on: October 17, 2008   Last Updated: May 18, 2009

Obviously, as a parent or childcare provider you have to have some tools at your disposal for disciplining unacceptable behavior. Equally obvious, you cannot go around beating them into submission, so what other options are there?

One option that has been eagerly accepted by the general consciousness of the parenting world and saturated in popular culture is the timeout or naughty chair. This method is a trend like any other parenting trend that comes along and sweeps the nation, scaffolded by TV shows like Supernanny and Nanny 911. As parents, we are easily swayed into believing things because they are on TV or written about in popular magazines that we occasionally forget our own common sense.

In keeping an open mind and listening to all the expert advice, we shouldn't forget our own parenting instincts, knowledge of our own unique kids, and our own experiences that might not always ring true with what the experts say.

One problem with any trend that insidiously slithers its way in and around the collective mind is that some of us can take what was perhaps a valid and insightful take on a particular human condition and then rigidly apply this concept to every single situation without taking into consideration all available information and/or contributing factors. In other words, say hello to the Fanatics.

Fanatic zeal can range from absurdity to downright cruelty and the timeout trend has picked up its fair share of absurdly cruel fanatics.

Recently, I witnessed a proponent of the timeout technique who (maybe not a fanatic but definitely a fan) put his kicking and screaming child in a timeout in the middle of a grocery store aisle. The child was about 4 years old and wanted to eat a bag of Oreos right there in the store. The father of course said no and so naturally the 4-year-old threw himself on the floor and proceeded to go into convulsions as he screamed, "I WANT OREOS, I WANT OREOS!"

Clearly, the child was tired and probably hungry, as it was nearing the dinner hour. So probably the best course of action would have been to leave the grocery store, give the kid some dinner, and put him to bed. However, this was not to be as the father, unperturbed by his son's tantrum, laid down in the middle of the aisle beside his son and said, "Jax, this is unacceptable behavior. You will have to go into a time out."

The father then pushed some boxes of crackers aside to create a makeshift naughty chair and physically perched the flailing preschooler on the

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page >>