Discipline: Spanking vs. Time Outs

Which way do you swing when your child behaves? What's best - spanking or time outs? Before you even get to the point where discipline is needed, experts say that kids need clear-cut boundaries so that you can head off discipline problems before they even happen. Certainly, those boundaries need reinforcement - sometimes frequently - but when children know what's expected of them, they not only are less inclined to misbehave, but they're also more likely to feel more secure. Heading off the unwanted behavior before it happens by anticipating it and diverting the child's interest is a great way to avoid disciplining altogether. If the child is heading toward the wall with a crayon in his hand, simply giving him paper and telling him that we only color on paper can keep him from needing discipline. Of course, kids will slip, and when they do, it's important to correct the behavior. More and more research is proving the ineffectiveness of spanking; a recent Wall Street Journal article cited three studies that concluded that spanking even impairs cognitive development in children.