How should we handle teenage bullies?
Pupils at a school in Yorkshire have assaulted at least 6 of their fellow pupils in an unofficial “Kick a Ginger Kid Dayâ€. The school have called the acts “deplorable†and have “acted swiftly to send a strong messageâ€. It seems the pupils involved have been strongly reprimanded. Furthermore, there has been a school-wide warning […]
The Naughty Step is traumatising our children
This week the participants on my Update Your Parenting workshop were discussing the use of Time Out and the Naughty Step. Â I was reminded once again of how much Supernanny has impacted parents since she first aired in 2004. Â Just about everyone attending the workshop was using some version of Time Out. My advice to […]
Should smacking be illegal?
So I’m about to wade into one of the most controversial parenting topics there is: should smacking children be made illegal? Here’s the article that has forced my hand: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2y42Xx/www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-belkin/spanking-kids_b_1241521.html For the record, I don’t like the tone of this article. My position is that smacking children is wrong. I also think it would be […]
Stop pestering me!
I heard a good story recently about a Mum who used boundaries really effectively to improve a situation that involved two children, some manner of computer game and a lot of pestering. It seems that this family worked out that the children would be allowed play the games console for a couple of hours on […]
Scolding and lecturing don’t work
Parents deceive themselves when they think they are getting through to kids when they scold, lecture, humiliate and punish. Jane Nelson, Riki Intner & Lynn Lott I write as a parent who scolded, lectured, humiliated and punished despite being on the receiving end of those as a child and vowing I wouldn’t do it to […]
What really matters?
 Ask yourself this question: “Will this matter a year from now?” Richard Carlson, American psychotherapist and author (1961 – 2006) This is such great, simple advice. How can we make it work for us in our daily lives as parents? So often, in the heat of the moment, when we’re dealing with children, everything can seem […]
When your child says “I HATE you!”…?
Yesterday, after I picked my daughter up from camp, I spent the next few hours fielding a variety of childish behaviour that ranged from a mildly off-putting bossy tone of voice, through an assortment of teenage-style eye-rolling, right up to the entirely unhelpful “I hate youâ€. For those who need a reminder, she’s five. A […]
