It’s hard to discipline children. You can’t hit them. Timeouts are not effective. Now, a study by the University of Pittsburgh says yelling at teens and ’tweens — particularly when it involves cursing or insults — can be just as harmful as hitting. So what can you do?
It’s nearly impossible to never yell at your child. It’s going to happen. Even if you’re not calling your child names or insulting him, there are more effective ways to deal with disciplinary problems than yelling.
What can harried parents do to get through to that child who, despite being asked 10 times to brush his teeth, is still playing with the cat and about to be late for school? See tomorrow’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for suggestions from parenting experts on how to keep behavioral problems from turning you into a screaming lunatic, and how to recover from it on the (hopefully rare) occasions when you do yell.