by Elizabeth Armer

Created on: March 22, 2010

Sometimes as adults, we forget that children are just like us and would like to be talked to and treated the way we want to be talked to and treated. This includes the tone and levels of communication.  

How many of us would have a positive reaction to another adult screaming at us when we make a mistake or are disobedient? We may be less likely to make that mistake again but screaming has such a negative effect on us and the long-term damage it can do to our children is even worse. 

As a child, my father did not know how to get his point across without screaming at us. As a young girl I was very afraid of my father. I didn't respond well to his loud voice and I grew up to strongly dislike him as well as not respect him. As parents, our job is to educate and discipline our children but in an appropriate manner. If children are raised by a parent who is constantly screaming, they may grow up to be extremely shy and fearful or even have a very bad temper themselves. A parent who screams at their child is definitely out of control!

Screaming is one of the worst things that we could do when disciplining our children and should be strongly discouraged. We want to parent our children in a way that they feel they can come and talk to us about anything at any time. When we scream at our children, that often tends to close the door of trust for our children when it comes to communication and we will end up driving our kids away rather than be the one they go to for help or advice.

Parents who scream are out of control. It is as simple as that. Parents who make it habit to scream in front of their children and especially at their children should consider anger management, therapy, and counseling to overcome this type of verbal abuse.

Love should be included in every part of teaching, disciplining, and educating our children as parents. Screaming at our children does not involve any kind of love whatsoever and has more negative effects than positive. Screaming is a form of verbal abuse and should be kept out of the parenting equation altogether. When we discipline our children, it should not be out of anger. Our children need us to love them and teach them everything we can in the most loving way possible and screaming will not send that message with love. 

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