Culture Post: Naughty or Nice? Many Parents Rely on Threats to Manage Misbehavior

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by ScienceDaily.

When young children’s behavior becomes challenging, many parents resort to threats — from taking away toys to threatening that Santa will skip their house, a national poll suggests.

Parents of children ages three to five were most likely to say they use threats to address misbehavior — with a fourth threatening their child with no Santa or gifts — according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health.

Many parents have also threatened to leave an activity or place, take away toys or not get dessert while nearly half of parents polled have used bribes.

“Discipline helps young children learn what behaviors are safe and appropriate and can play a crucial role in helping them learn the difference between right and wrong,” said Mott pediatrician and Mott Poll co-director Susan Woolford, M.D.

“Empty threats, however, undermine trust and credibility and aren’t usually effective. Positive reinforcement and consistent discipline are more likely to shape long term behavior.”

While half of parents rate themselves as very consistent in disciplining their child, many admit struggling with consistency, according to the nationally representative report based on 725 responses from parents with at least one child ages one to five surveyed in August.

Top challenges include a child being too young to understand, strategies not always working and parents trying to prevent a public tantrum.

Nearly a fourth of parents also say they get too irritated when their child misbehaves, react before remembering their strategies or are too tired to be consistent.

Parents weren’t always sure whether their discipline strategies worked, with about two fifths saying they’re very effective and three in five believing they’re somewhat effective.

Most parents polled also reported getting input about discipline strategies from several sources, with many turning to the child’s other parent, talking with family and friends or using parenting books, articles and social media.

Source: ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/12/241216130304.htm

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