Child time-out
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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A time-out is an educational (mainly parenting) technique recommended by many pediatricians and developmental psychologists as an alternative to spanking and other traditional forms of discipline.
One method often used for young children (most commonly ages 2–5) is the use of time-outs. A time-out involves isolating the child for a relatively short period of time, generally just a few minutes. Although the giving of time-outs is an extremely common parenting practice, it is also very widely misunderstood and misapplied. Most people think the purpose of time-outs is punishment. However, most child-rearing experts have never advocated using time-outs in this way. Ideally, the time-out is intended to give an over-excited child time to calm down. It is therefore most effective when a young child is throwing a temper tantrum or is otherwise misbehaving due to excitement. Many advocates of the time-out recommend that other methods of discipline are more appropriate when a child makes a calm, deliberate choice to misbehave.
The theory behind the time-out is that children at these ages are often frightened by their own lack of control when they throw tantrums. If the child is given a chance to regain self-control on their own in a quiet place free of distractions, they will often be relieved to do so. Thus, time-outs help children develop internal self-control, whereas with more punitive methods like spanking, the child relies on someone else to forcibly control them. This is one reason why even parents who consider spanking acceptable often use time-outs instead for situations like a young child's temper tantrums.
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