Modern day child discipline, hurting our children rather than helping them an editorial by Taylor

Modern day child discipline, hurting our children rather than helping them

Taylor McJuray - BRCI

Posted: October 2017 9:30 AM ET

  Children are going crazy; parents need to reexamine their discipline methods

      Is child discipline hurting our children or helping them? Kids nowadays believe they can walk all over their parents. It's because of the way parents, parent.

      I remember when my cousin Tegan was little. He had to have very specific food, or he wouldn’t eat it without having a fit. Of course, in trying to avoid the tantrum, we would give him the food he wanted. Later on, he had to learn that trying new things was good. In the beginning trying new things was filled with tears and small fits, but in the end, he began to love more than just original KD and hot dogs. The moral of the story is that you need to teach kids while they are young, or they will soon be teenagers with the bad habit of blocking out everything their parents say. Take it from me:  I am one. 

    An online article by The Daily Mail, provides a well thought out response. Every point the article made is what I really see out in public. The relationship between parents and children is not the same as it used to be. Parents care way too much about the child’s happiness and comfort, rather than their manners and expectations. Another article lists the most common discipline strategies for children aged 19-35 months.  They include spanking, yelling, taking away a toy or treat, time out or providing explanations.  These don’t always work!

     Children need to learn there are consequences for their actions. If parents use consequences, children will associate misbehavior with a negative impact.  By taking away something they want, or enforcing a consequence, they will be more careful about what they do or say to their parents. Yelling, on the other hand, doesn’t need to be the main part of discipline. Yelling only happens when you’ve tried everything else, and they are still acting like little deceitful jerks, and even then, it still doesn’t really change their behavior. Another method that won’t do much good is providing explanations. Kids aren’t going to sit there and listen to you intently while you tell them what they are doing wrong and what you think they need to change. They are kids! Chances are that because there was no consequence for their actions other than a spineless talk, they will do it again.

     Kids need to know that you are their parents, not their friends.  Parents should praise the good their child has done, so they will strive to do more things worthy of that praise. But when it comes to behavior, that’s not worthy of praise, parents need to ignore, especially if it’s minor. Parents should also spend quality down time with their children. Children need to have the ability to sit down and watch TV (me time), as well as to go out and have fun. Lastly parents need to take time for themselves. If parents are stressed all the time, kids pick up on that and that’s not good. Parents need to have time to collect their thoughts and feelings, so they can be healthy and on their best behavior as well.

Works cited,

Reporter, Daily Mail. “Quarter of parents avoid disciplining their children for fear of upsetting them.” Daily  

Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 17 Feb. 2010, www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1251426/Modern-parents-avoid-discipline-fear-upsetting-children.html.

Newman, Susan. “9 Signs That a Child Has Entitlement Issues.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 23       

Nov. 2015, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/singletons/201511/9-signs-child-has-entitlement-issues.
Jenner, Emma. “A British Nanny's 5 Reasons Why Modern Parenting Is In Crisis.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 1 Sept.   

2014, m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5552527.
Danys, Mindaugas. “Scream and shout.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 28 July 2009,

www.flickr.com/photos/mindaugasdanys/3766009204.

“7 Simple Parenting Strategies That Work.” World of Psychology, 21 Oct. 2012,

                psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/10/19/7- simple-parenting-strategies-that-work/.