Parents Should Use "Time-Out" Judiciously - not effective in long term - Brief Article

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Jan, 2001

The use of a "time-out" may be an effective way for parents to control youngsters' behavior in the short term, but it will not teach children to manage their own behavior as they grow older, argues Judith Myers-Walls, an associate professor of development studies, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. "I've heard a lot of pediatricians recommend this form of discipline almost like a prescription. The recommendation is one minute of `time-out' per year of the child's age and per infraction. But it's not that simple, and it shouldn't be automatic."

She says that discipline is ideally about teaching, and parents must remember that there is not a single teaching method that will always work in every situation with every child. Moreover, while the "time-out" method can be effective if a child is losing control, it should not be used as a form of punishment. "If a child's behavior becomes unmanageable and inappropriate for a certain situation, it can be helpful to remove him or her from that situation and give the child private time and space to settle down and regain some control. Whether or not that will happen depends on the temperament of the child. If the youngster will not stay in his bedroom, for instance, and the parent ends up having to stand outside the door to keep it closed, it becomes a struggle of wills and the child isn't learning anything about how to manage anger."

Although Myers-Walls admits that there isn't always a lot of room to negotiate with a two-year-old, she stresses that it is still important that any form of discipline be constructive. "It should teach the child something about what is reasonable behavior and what is not, and not be just a demonstration of power on the part of the parent. It's that understanding of what is reasonable and expected that will help [youngsters] get along in the larger communities of school and the workplace as they get older."