Friday, June 10, 2016

Why Dad needs to keep his voice down

I read a lot of studies about parenthood. A surprising number of them uncover changes that need to be made in the Mother's behavior, because either the study didn't cover Dads as well, or it saw Dad's behavior as not having a significant effect on the child.

So it was somewhat refreshing to find a study that was all about Dads. I wouldn't say that this could be considered an early Father's Day gift or anything though, because of the results of the study. In a nutshell: Dads, you've got to stop yelling.

I realize that your Dad probably yelled at you when you were a child. And I realize that your child is being especially annoying right now. And, I agree that it seems like your child is not listening. But, your yelling is not helping the situation. In fact, it is making it worse. Dads who yell have been found to have more aggressive teenagers. And in response to Dad's yelling, children often become less helpful overall - to other family members in addition to Dad.

It's important to note that the study said that parents can still be firm in their expectations of behavior, but that they don't have to resort to shouting. Is that going to be hard? Yes. But a lot of things we do as parents is hard. But a little bit of effort goes a long way.

Who yells the most in your household - Mom or Dad? Tell me in the comments (but not in all caps, please!)

No comments:

Post a Comment