School Information System: Positive parenting Attempts to go where calm and reasonableness fear to tread

February 3, 2014

Positive parenting Attempts to go where calm and reasonableness fear to tread

IN THE old days parents followed a simple rule: spare the rod and spoil the child. These days less violent forms of discipline are favoured. Supernanny, a television toddler-tamer, recommends the "naughty step", to which ill-behaved brats are temporarily banished. Yet even this is too harsh, some psychologists say. Putting Howling Henry on the naughty step may interrupt his tantrum; but advocates of "positive discipline" say it does nothing to encourage him to solve his own problems (and thus build character).

Some even suggest it may be psychologically damaging.

Positive discipline, which is becoming a grassroots fashion in America, aims to teach children self-control and empathy. Rather than screaming at them to pick up the toys they have strewn on the floor, parents or teachers ask them to suggest their own way of tackling the problem. Adults are encouraged to think harder about the causes of bad behaviour. Families meet regularly to discuss all of the above.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at February 3, 2014 12:16 AM
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