by Calder Taylor

Created on: December 08, 2007

From an elementary school teacher's perspective, yelling is a somewhat effective way to get children's attention and reinforce discipline. Unless you have a child's full attention, any attempted discipline will ineffective. This is only the case for some children the children who are strong-willed, and stubborn. A strong-willed child must be met with a strong-willed and strong-voiced adult in certain situations.

For example, Mrs. Bradley's Second Grade class is standing in line at the library. Little Johnny, who is 7, starts grabbing Nicole's arm in attempt to skip her in line. In the process, he is scratching her arm. Mrs. Bradley steps in to instruct Johnny to go to time-out. The words "Johnny, you are not respecting others. Go to time-out, now." spoken softly and sternly, pales in comparison to a yelled, "JOHNNY, YOU ARE NOT RESPECTING OTHERS. GO TO TIME-OUT, NOW!" The former might possibly be met with smiles and Johnny thinking that he isn't in as much trouble as he really is. Yelling and using a loud voice quickly gets Johnny's attention, stops the action, lets him know that he has done wrong, and delivers his consequence.

The discipline then has three elements. The elements consist of physical consequence, which could be going to time-out. The angry look on your face would be considered the visual element. And finally, there is the auditory element which is the sound of your voice during disciplining. With the three elements combined a clear message is sent to the child and there is no mistaking on their part.

A good portion of today's children, when being dealt with by strangers, such as teachers, do not respond in an appropriate manner when disciplined with a quiet "inside" voice. Children tend to ignore you, or smile at you when being disciplined in such a way. They know that there is nothing you can really do to them with the absence of corporal punishment, and lack of administrative support in their schools. Because of this, it appears that yelling makes teacher-given consequences more serious to them. Who likes to be yelled at in front of others? I can't believe that there is anyone who would enjoy it. Yelling during discipline also promotes better behavior in the children who are observing the situation. Yelling is all that some teachers have, even though it is not totally acceptable in the teaching profession.

As I walk down the halls, I hear other education professionals, more experienced than I, yelling at their students while administering discipline. The yelling is not excessive, nor is it abusive. It is just enough to get the student back on track. For teachers, yelling stops the action immediately which is what is most desired. It may very well be the same situation with the children's parents at home. The students snap up, look you directly in the face, and take you a little more seriously when yelled at with a strong voice.

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