The value of my "practical parenting experience" could be questioned, but so far we've never ever resorted to "time out." That's the stupidest-sounding punishment ever. And every parent I've heard use the term has a willful, spoiled brat on their hands.

Never underestimate the power of a stern word and a firm swat on the bottom.

Time-out dolls look like the kid at the end of "Blair Witch."

Thanks for confirming my instincts on both counts, guys!

Time out is the single most misunderstood of all the behavior mamngement plans. It was created by educators who worked with a small group of childeren in an enclosed classroom with lots of resources, etc. The idea behind it is that you should reason/explain/explore behavior in order to modify it. What's supposed to happen in that when the child has a behavior issue the educator is to first try redirection(fancy word for side tracting the kid towards another behavior) if that does not work, you inform the child that the current behavior is not appropriate. You send the child to take a "time-out" to regroup/calm down/think about the issue. When the child is calm, you then have a conversation about why the bahvior occured, how it effects the child and others, and, as a team, the child and the educator decide what the consequences for the infringment are(either by discussion or reference to the publically posted and daily reviewd classroom rules). In other words, time out is not a consequence, it is literally time out before the consequence occurs.

Now, who has time to do all of that with every kid in every situation others that those origional educators? And how many people out there are going to sit through boring behavior management training classes to learn the proper technique? So, for the most part, time out has become another way of saying stand in the corner. and that was so effective, right?

Sid