An expert in child development has revealed she doesn't ever call her child 'naughty', even when she's acting up. You can see her full justification in the video below (the clip contains some strong language):
Dr Kristyn Sommer has a PhD in child development, and is therefore qualified to talk about this sort of thing.
She reckons children shouldn't be called naughty to reinforce bad behaviour as it isn't an effective discipline technique.
Hey, each to their own, but let's hear her out shall we?
On her TikTok page, Kristyn offers all sorts of advice to parents about ways to deal with children's behaviour.
She explained: "Here's how I discipline my toddler as a mum with a PhD in child development.
"I don't tell her she's naughty, I don't tell her she's bad, I don't tell her there's anything she does makes her inherently a bad person.
"I very rarely tell her to stop, only when it's dangerous, what I do instead is really important."
So, what does she do?
Kristyn continued: "I use the terminology good decisions and bad decisions or good choices and bad choices.
"When she first does something wrong, I ask her if she thinks that's a good decision or a bad decision even if it's in the moment.
"If she looks confused, I'll tell her whether it was a good decision or a bad decision, and give her some suggestions for how to make a better decision."
"So, for example, if she climbs up on the table I'll ask her - when she's safe - if it's a good decision or a bad decision. She'll say bad.
"Then what she'll do is climb back down. When she climbs back down, I tell her it was a great decision and I celebrate it.
"That's how I use positive reinforcement to discipline."
Sounds sensible enough, right?
If the kid does something, there's no point in chiding them for something they've already done, is there?
You might as well ask them about the decision and then celebrate when they come to the sensible outcome.
Still, people have questions about her technique.
One person asked: "What do you do if she makes a bad decision but she doesn't think it's bad?"
Kristyn responded: "I tell her it's a bad decision. I usually have to model/guide/tell her on the first occurrence of the behavior what kind of decision it is."
Another person wrote: "My mom has no school education, but was the only parent I know that did these things. Great to see she was right."
Hey, maybe it's worth a go.
Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@drkristynsommerTopics: Children, Family, Interesting, Parenting