I don’t mean the sports convention, I mean the “Time out” you have (or inflict?) on a child.
In his recently started thread, JohnClay refers to “time outs.” I have heard other Dopers talk about “time outs.” What the hell is that? Grounding? Standing in a corner? A lecture? I’m only 30, but when I was a kid the term “time out” wasn’t used in this context. Actually, to be honest, I’ve never met a person IRL use this term.
So what is it?
When I was a kid, this meant you have to go stand in a corner and Think About What You’ve Done.
A “time out” is when all play, whining etc. must cease. The child is usually placed in the corner or perhaps at the mother’s feet for a predetermined amount of time. This gives the child (and the parent) a chance to calm down and behave in a more rational manner.
Ditto to Friedo. It’s a child rearing concept.
Ditto prior answers although the original concept of “time out” is to take a child who is misbehaving or has lost control and remove him/her from the environment so contributing so as to allow the child time to regain control. The idea has deteriorated to be a punishment, à la “stand in the corner,” which wasn’t really the original idea. The rule of thumb is one minute for each year of age.
It’s lame brain form of shunning that does nothing disclipline-wise. it creates undisciplined li’l bastards who were never taught the benefits of fear. The same little bastards who walk into Columbine, etc…
Hitting is bad when done indiscriminately, like by an alcoholic abusive parent.
Hitting as a form of discipline has it’s place.
But, this isn’t great debates.
~Phil “product of an old fashioned Catholic School where beatings were apprecited by the parents”.
Oh, I think it’s about to become one…
Cite?
Do you have a cite for the benefits of fearing ones’ parents?
L
Too bad your Spelling teacher didn’t hit you more. :rolleyes:
RickJay, a “time-out” is a child-rearing tool. As CookingWithGas said, it’s a way to remove a misbehaving child from an environment with which (s)he is having difficulty. In my book, children should never be sent to time-out by themselves; in our house, it’s a chance for both parent and child to calm down, together.
It usually consists of me taking my kid into another room and sitting down with him/her, quietly to discuss exactly what has made me unhappy with his/her behavior.
You can learn more (and see a freaky pop-up ad) here.
Hey, I won spelling bees, dammit! Just don’t preview much. Damn boards are slow enuff.
Please…Don’t hit me!
::walks in::
::pulls out trout::
::slaps Philster in the face::
::walks out::
To me, it’s the second step on a gradient of increasing punishments.
Example: the child is told not to do N, and does N anyway.
Step one: the child is given one warning as a reminder.
If the child ignores the warning and does N anyway…
Step two: you explain to the child why he/she is in trouble, the severity of the trouble, and that more punishment will follow if further violations occur. the child is put in time out. i.e. standing at the wall or in the corner, not allowed to move, talk, cry, look around, play, have fun, etc. for a certain amount of time.
If the child violates time out…
Step three: the child is spanked and further privileges are taken away (ex. tv, computer, radio, playing with friends, earlier bedtime, etc)
Steps can be skipped or substituted, depending on severity of the misbehavior. Example: if a 2 year old is playing with the stove or some other dangerous activity, I would spank immediately so the child will associate the pain of a spanking with the stove (or whatever), and avoid it. Pain is nature’s teacher, after all.
Time out is only useful after a child has reached an age where he/she is able to understand cause/effect and to understand reason (and the language you speak. duh), and it is absolutely useless if you don’t back it up with harsher punishment (i.e. spanking).
When I was a kid, it was never called time out either. My dad made my brother and me stand at the wall (there was a piece of black electrical tape where my nose had to touch, otherwise I’d get spanked) or do “air-chair” where you sit with your back against the wall and legs at a 90 degree angle, but with nothing underneath you. This is my favorite punishment, because even though it sucked and it hurt like crazy, it made my legs really strong. 
So there are side benefits.
My two-year-old hates time-outs, since he can’t run and play, and nobody pays him any attention (we put him in his high chair and turn it towards a corner, since he hasn’t grasped the idea of sitting quietly in a corner for punishment). As a deterrent, it’s great – when he starts to misbehave, we just say, “If you continue, we’ll give you a ‘time out’,” and he stops acting rowdy. No spanking, no loud noises, just the threat of something unpleasant.
And IMO Philster’s assertion is unsupported bullstuff.
I don’t know much about raising kids, but when I was physically abused as a child,I just rebelled.:mad: Which in effect caused me to get even more of a beating or punishment and made me more of a violent person.Violence is not the answer.:wally
I don’t have kids. When growing up I never had a “time out”. I’m 39 now. When I started hearing about “time outs” I thought they were BS. Until I saw my sister with her two boys. 2 yrs and 4 yrs. It was a family get together type of thing. The boys were getting all wound up, thanks to Uncle Fallfast. 
After I left them alone and they were playing by themselves they got a little to rowdy. They got a warning first. When it continued my sis just said to them “that’s it, time out time”. Took the smallest and made him sit and alone facing a wall for not even two minutes. There was crying at first. Then nothing. It worked. I was amazed. It breaks the cycle of whatever they are doing and it does stop the bad behaviors.
Way to go rjung. I wish my parents did that for me.