Effective Discipline Without Physical Punishment Essay Example for Free

Effective Discipline Without Physical Punishment Essay Contrary to what generations of parents have experienced in their own childhood, physical punishment is not an effective method to use when rearing children. Parents should become educated in other strategies that are non-physical and more effective in curbing misbehavior in children. Positive effective methods would include using timeouts, reasoning, logical consequences and reparation. In its most general sense, discipline refers to systematic instruction given to a disciple. To discipline means to instruct a person to follow a particular code of conduct, while the purpose of discipline is to develop and entrench desirable social habits in children. These habits are what will enable children to become productive members of society in adulthood. For children discipline is a set of rules, rewards and punishments to teach self-control. Punishments should never do physical, mental or emotional harm when dispensed. Kohn (2005) teaches us that when a major infraction occurs, parents should apply a consequence that has enough symbolic value that it convinces the child not to repeat the offense. Discipline is one of the most important elements in rearing children. The ultimate goal is to foster sound judgment and morals so the child will develop and maintain self-discipline throughout the rest of their life. Through proper discipline, children learn how to function in a family and society that is full of boundaries, rules, and laws by which we all must abide. Effective punishment can enable children to learn self-control and responsibility of their own behavior. Many experts, including The American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP] (1998) believe that effective punishment consists of both punitive and non-punitive methods, but does not involve any forms of physical punishment. The punishment set forth by the parents should be effective enough that it reduces the need for more punishment, and decrease the repeat of the offense. An imperative key we learn from Ross (1993) is that the focus be on the misbehavior and not on the punishment. The punishment set forth by the parent or guardian should change the misbehavior in the child, thereby decreasing the chance of any repeats of he misbehavior. A second key from Ross (1993) informs us that parents should keep in mind that part of reprimanding for misbehaving is also reminding children of what is behaving correctly. For the child to learn right from wrong, they need to be informed of what is right. This follow through is as important as the punishment. Building a Foundation To build and maintain a foundation for discipline to become effective, parents will need an assortment of components. The AAP (1998) informs us that there are four key components needed that are essential. First needed is a loving and supportive relationship between the child and parent. Second is a positive proactive system to support desirable behaviors. Third, is a non-combative approach for dealing with the misbehavior. Last, is consistency, parents will need to be consistent in using disciplinary techniques on a regular basis. Should parents fail to discipline a misbehavior or fail to support a desirable behavior upon each occurrence, then the child can receive a mixed message on what is right or wrong. Each of these components relies on one another to become successful as a whole (AAP, 1998). Effective Discipline Methods  Respectful communication between the child and parent is another component. However, this behavior will need to be taught to children as explained by the AAP (1998). Parents can accomplish this by modeling respectful communication themselves. From a young age, the child will begin imitating those that are surrounding them. Thereby the parents modeling the behaviors they seek to have in their children, can accomplish two components in a single effort. In addition, when communicating parents should be specific with their child, rather it is praising for a desirable behavior or correcting a misbehavior. Essentially, parents need to give correction without direction. They should also avoid using abstract language; and state in age appropriate terms that the child will understand. This will avoid confusion on the child’s part on what behavior was incorrect and why it was. According to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health Human Development [NICHD] (2001), for correction through discipline to have a lasting effect, it must have reforming value. Parents will need to be prepared to deal with each misbehavior in advance by having clear defined strategies of effective discipline to use. For success, it is imperative that each punishment given fit the misbehavior. Some of the most effective punishments are also the most time consuming for a parent. Keep in mind though the rewards are by far greater when seeing the child moving through each developmental stage with ease, largely due to the parents continued use of effective discipline. The most commonly used discipline method is isolation or more informally referred to as a time-out for toddler discipline. This consists of temporarily separating a child from an environment where the inappropriate behavior has occurred. The Nemours Foundation (2008a) explains that the theory behind a time-out is that children are frightened by their own lack of control thus leading to a tantrum. Moreover, when given the chance to regain self-control on their own in a quiet place free of distractions, learn to develop internal self-control. Again, follow through is needed, where the parent will explain what the misbehavior was to the child to increase the chances of fewer occurrences in the future. An infrequent punishment to be applied for a misbehavior would be depravation. To deprive or refuse a child a privilege has to equal the severity of the misbehavior. Moreover, children should learn that privileges come with responsibility and be earned. A privilege that is of value to the child, such as watching television or playing with friends, would be a privilege to remove. An example of a mismatch would be a depriving a toddler their favorite television program for a month for forgetting to pick up their toys. The infraction does not equal the punishment; the length of time is too long for the age of the child. An important point for parents to remember when using this method of discipline with very young children is that toddlers generally have very short memories as recommended by Ross (1993). So when a privilege is taken away from a child for two or three days the child may forget about the punishment the second day. Grounding is a form of punishment usually for older children and teenagers that restricts their movement inside and outside of the home. However, bear in mind that extended periods can backfire, causing the child to feel persecuted or picked on and starting a negative retaliation cycle. Many experts including author Kohn (2005) suggest compounding grounding with other alternatives that would allow them to earn a reduction in the grounding period. Likewise, depending upon the nfraction that occurred parents could also increase the severity of grounding by restricting the child from certain privileges in the home as well as outside of the home, like no television or phone calls. Another effective discipline tactic is reparation. Reparation is an active punishment, meaning the child will need to work off the infraction before allowed to do anything else. While working off the infraction the child will have time to reflect over the incident and the subsequent consequence. An example would be an extra chore not normally done by the child, like washing the windows versus picking up their room. Reparation also takes supervision from the parents, where deprivation does not. The Nemours Foundation (2008b) however believes that, of the two, reparation is the more effective of the two punishments. Another effective discipline for older children and teenagers would be the use of logical consequences. This provides opportunities that allow children to make decisions on their own, and incidentally learning to weigh the consequences of their actions. This discipline practice offers both a discipline for the misbehavior and a great building block for children, teaching them to think ahead of instant gratification. Using logical consequences does require some creativity, time and energy on the part of the parents. The net gain is worthwhile because it effectively teaches children lessons in behaving in socially acceptable ways and in becoming a mature, responsible adult. An example would be allowing the child to work off an infraction and because they have done such a good job without complaining, you have given them five dollars. Next, allow the child to make the decision either to use the money to pay off a previous debt to the next-door neighbor for having broken their window or to use it for ice cream later with their friends. When the child chooses to pay off the debt, the parent would give high praise and possibly an additional reward for making such a mature decision. Logical reasoning and positive reinforcement work very well together in producing the desirable results wanted in teenagers. NICHD (2001) points out that a child can learn, that mistakes are an inevitable part of life and that it is not so important that they made a mistake but that they take responsibility to correct the mistake (Nemours Foundation, 2008b; NICHD, 2001). Praise and intangible rewards are a great practice to use when rewarding desirable behavior. Positive reinforcement through praise is something children will receive not just from their parents but also from their teachers, friends and eventually their employer and co-workers. The NICHD (2001) emphasizes that children are more responsive to positive statements; however make sure your compliments are truthful. Children, like adults, will see through false flattery. Reinforcement should also be age-appropriate. Expecting a teenager to change their behavior by rewarding them with stickers is likely to be ineffective. The flip to positive reinforcement is satiation. Satiation is the term used to describe a situation of a reinforcement losing its effectiveness. For example, if a child is receiving sweets as reinforcement, it is likely that after an extended period of time they will tire of the candy thus losing effectiveness. Satiation can also occur if too much reinforcement is being used, as pointed out by the Nemours Foundation (2008b). An example would be, earning up to ten minutes of playtime a day might serve as reinforcement for a longer period of time, versus being given the opportunity to earn an hour of play time. Examples of positive reinforcement for younger children would be hugs, special time, unique privileges, etc. , for encouraging good behavior (Nemours Foundation, 2008b; NICHD, 2001). Corporal Punishment and the Negative Effects The most disconcerting form of punishment is physical punishment. Physical punishment has negative effects, both mentally and emotionally on every living being in this world. Moreover, when physical punishment is applied to children for a misbehavior it severs no reforming valve. A child’s mind will not understand the context to what is right or wrong. They will only know pain, fear, and the fear will grow and overshadow logical reasoning. When a parent strikes a child, they are communicating to the child that they are bigger, stronger and entitled to be violent. When the child grows up, they will feel that they are entitled to act the same way. Parents who use physical punishment as a method of correcting a misbehavior are instilling fear in the child vs. sense of right and wrong. Sanders, Cann and Markie-Dadds (2003) inform us that parents who are at risk of abusing their children are more likely to have unrealistic expectations of children’s capabilities. Physical punishment sends a mixed message to children and reinforces aggressive behavior. According to Vittrup and Holden (2006), when parents model aggressive behaviors by spanking, they reinforce the idea that physical aggression is the way to get what you want. Parents can break away from using physical punishment as a discipline method. It is possible for well-intentioned loving parents to get angry enough with their children to use physical punishment like spanking or slapping. However, this is a slippery slope for parents. Parents see the instant result when the child is three from a spank on the butt and will be quicker to use this method again to achieve the same results, as they grow older. Parents may only mean for the spanking to be a punishment, however many experts state that it is more accurately used as a means of releasing the parents own anger and frustration. Although these parents are well aware that the purpose of discipline is to teach, the danger of using physical punishment repeatedly and abusing the child becomes greater. The AAP (1998) maintains apart from suffering physical pain, the child will also feel as though there is something wrong with them (instead of something wrong with their behavior). This can create resentment, rejection and humiliated. All of which can lead to body and self-image issues in the child later in life. Any form of physical punishment is traumatic and parents should take heed before striking a child. According to the Severe (1996) as well as many other child development experts, physical punishment can provoke violent thoughts in a childs mind and possibly teach them that violence is an acceptable behavior in a relationship. Author Vittrup and Holden (2006) tells us that repetition of physical punishment can make the child immune against it and then it will not even work as a temporary correction method. The AAP (1998) points out that, discipline should be based on expectations that are appropriate for the age of the child, and it should be used to set reasonable, consistent limits while permitting choices among acceptable alternatives. Discipline teaches children moral and social standards. The APP (1998) contends discipline should also protect children from harm by teaching what is safe while guiding them to respect the rights and property of others. Although verbal explanations may help older children understand their punishment, reasoning is ineffective if children are incapable of understanding the explanation. According to Nemours Foundation (2009c), children younger than 18 months are typically unable to apply the context of the reasons for punishment, therefore their overwhelming desire to explore heir environment makes punishment less effective. In the moment of an incident and those immediately following, parents can feel a mix of emotions and they will need to separate their anger before they impose a punishment. The best advice from the Nemours Foundation ( 2009c) to a parent in the heat of the moment during an incident of misbehavior is for the parent to take time to cool down. Telling the child to go to their room will thereby give the parent time to calm down and rationally think over the incident before dispensing with a punishment. The parent can then avoid lashing out in anger or fear. When the parent is clam enough, they can then engage the child and talk over the incident, explaining the why of the misbehavior and what the child’s punishment will be. According to the Vittrup and Holden (2006) yelling, threatening, scolding, and spanking are not considered effective punishments. As these reactions release the parent’s anger, however they have little long-term effect on correcting the misbehavior, and are primarily a release valve for the parent’s frustration. Physical punishment is also a leading cause in the destruction of the trust bonds between parents and children. Some researchers, including authors Kohn (2005) and Severe (1996), have maintained that corporal punishment actually works against its objective (obedience); since children will not voluntarily obey an adult, they do not trust. Children subjected to physical punishment will grow resentful, shy, insecure and or violent. Once the bonds of trust are in question by the child, the entire foundation parents built to form effective discipline in children will be destroyed. Since the core of the foundation is a loving caring environment with trust, the child will feel incapable of trusting the parent in the future. Conclusion Parenting professionals and organizations including the NICHD (2001) are participating in an ongoing effort to change traditional parental use of physical punishment for a means of discipline to more effective non-physical methods. While a major purpose of discipline is to develop desirable social habits in children, the ultimate goal is to foster sound judgment and morals so children will develop and maintain self-discipline throughout the rest of their lives. Children raised in a way that stresses positive non-physical discipline will understand their own behavior better, show independence, and respect themselves and others. These children will then carry forward the non-violent methods of effective punishment onto their children and the cycle will keep repeating for future generations. In many cultures, parents have historically had the right to use physical punishment when appropriate in discipline. However, legislation in some countries has changed in recent years, particularly in continental Europe. Domestic corporal punishment has now, been outlawed in 25 countries around the world, beginning with Sweden in 1979. The United States is not one of these countries; however, through means of education we can evolve and join their ranks. To borrow from Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American Human Rights Activist, character is higher than intellect. It is the choices we make in the moment of the incident and those immediately following that determine our character and set an example for our children to follow.

Their Eyes Were Watching God :: Zora Neale Hurston Literature Novels Essays

Their Eyes Were Watching God While reading Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, I was struck with the similarity of the attitude towards life which she shared with the leader of the French surrealist group, Andrà © Breton. Like Breton, Hurston's central value was the "marvelous," especially as it can be seen in the world of love. Breton defined the "marvelous" in contrast to the fantastic. "Le merveilleux, nul n'est mieux parvenu à   le dà ©finir par opposition au `fantastique' qui tend, hà ©las, de plus en plus à   le supplanter auprà ¨s de nos contemporains. C'est que le fantastique est presque toujours de l'ordre de la fiction sans consà ©quence, alors que le merveilleux luit à   l'extrà ªme pointe du mouvement vital et engage l'affectività © tout entià ¨re" (Preface 16). [The marvelous, there is no better way to define it than by opposition to the `fantastic,' which, alas, is increasingly tending to supplant it in the eyes of our contemporaries. The fantastic is almost always of the order of a fiction without consequence, whereas the marvelous shines at that extreme point of the spirit's ability of movement and entirely engages the emotions.] Hurston's famous work certainly achieves this definition of the "marvelous," but could we therefore say that she was a surrealist? She doesn't mention the French surrealists in her works, and yet, I think we can see her "contemporaneity" with the surrealist movement not only in terms of the times in which she lived, but also the concerns she dealt with, if we borrow yet another definition, this time from the American critic Kenneth Burke. "For instance, if modern New York is much like decadent Rome, then we are `contemporaneous' with decadent Rome, or with some corresponding decadent city among the Mayas, etc. It is in this sense that situations are `timeless,' `nonhistorical,' `contemporaneous'" (301302). Hurston, like the surrealists, shared an interest in "mad love" over other more materialistic values, and she found he r interests incarnated in the island of Haiti, and its cult of Erzulie, the goddess of divine love. Andrà © Breton visited the island of Haiti, and was extremely interested in the poets and writers he encountered there, praising the Haitian poet Magloire St. Aude, for example, as the only contemporary who could equal the intensity of the recently deceased Apollinaire, Nerval, and Stephane Mallarmà © ("Magloire St. Aude" 171). The Haitian goddess of love, Erzulie, could be, in turn, considered a sister of the beautiful goddess that "Nadja" represented in Breton's most important work, and Hurston's Their Eyes could be seen as one of the few books which can match the intensity of Nadja.

Advertising and Beauty Product Advertisements Essay

This study examined beauty advertisements in local English magazines from a Critical Discourse Analysis perspective. This study mainly focused on the use of language in beauty advertisements and strategies employed by advertisers to manipulate and influence their customers. The analysis is based on Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework. It demonstrates how the ideology of ‘beauty’ is produced and reproduced through advertisements in popular local women’s magazines. A qualitative research was conducted on beauty product advertisements in two popular local women’s magazines, Cleo and Women’s Weekly. The findings indicated that advertisers used various strategies to manipulate women. The advertisements promote an idealised lifestyle and manipulate readers to a certain extent into believing whatever that is advertised is indeed true. This study revealed how the ideology of beauty is constructed and reconstructed through magazines by stereotyping how beauty products are synonymous with a better life. Advertising language is used to control people’s minds. Thus people in power (advertisers) use language as a means to exercise control over others. Keywords: CDA, advertisements, power, manipulate 1. Introduction The stiff competition in attracting potential customers has forced advertisers to employ vigorous advertising strategies techniques such as, construct a problem that can only be solved by using their products. Similarly, beauty product companies advertise their products to convince women. Magazines are a good example of a powerful media which regularly reach a vast number of women. The local English Language magazines are constantly flooded with beauty product advertisements. Some of them provide quite a lot of information such as, the background of the product, its effectiveness, feedback or testimonies by celebrity’s or women who have used the product, price, and so on whereas some are rather short and condensed. These advertisements tend to manipulate readers to a certain extent into believing whatever that is advertised is indeed true. The major stakeholders in advertising are the manufacturers, consumers and advertising agencies. Advertisements reach out to consumers through various media such as internet, radio, television, magazines and newspapers. In order to ensure that advertisements are able to reach the target group, advertisers need to select the right medium. For instance, if the target group is the generation Y group, then internet would be the best source as many young people today go online when purchasing products be it clothes, gadgets, books and so on. As print media such as magazines can reach both young and old alike, advertisers or manufacturers of products take opportunity to promote their product through this media. Visuals and language in the advertisements play a pertinent role to attract women. The next section will discuss on the role of language in advertising. Cook (2001) points out that advertisements inform, persuade, remind, influence and perhaps change opinions, emotions and attitudes. In other words, his contention is that advertisements do not only sell products but change society and make people buy things they do not want or need. He also feels that advertisements do give warnings or information to people. Hence, advertisements can help create awareness, construct identities and attitude. There are many advertisements in women’s magazines that advertise beauty products influencing women and 61 www. ccsenet. org/ass Asian Social Science Vol. 9, No.3; 2013 beauty has become an absolute religious imperative for women, thus pressuring them to do their best to hold their beauty (Baudrillard, 2005). The â€Å"ideal† women is stereotyped through visual and textual aspects of the advertisements. Advertisers use visual and linguistic means to persuade their audience. It is argued that â€Å"advertising is the most influential institution of socialisation in modern society† (Jhally, 1995). This scenario has brought into perspective on how people who are in control of advertisements manage to exercise their power and at the same time manipulate women’s beliefs. Lau and Zuraidah (2010) perceived that advertising has been subtly distorting reality and manipulating consumers to make them buy a way of life as well as goods. Thus studies on advertisements in women’s magazines would be of great relevance to advertisers. In order to know how advertisers influence women, it is necessary first to understand what advertising is all about. Advertisements are important but not many studies have been conducted in the local context from a CDA perspective. Thus there is indeed a need for studies to investigate the use of language and other semiotic modalities in beauty product advertisements. The findings of such research efforts can contribute further to the field of advertising as well as language and society. This study will address the following research questions: 1) What are the linguistic features used in beauty product advertisements? 2) What are the discursive techniques employed in beauty product advertisements to manipulate women? 2. Methodology & Theoretical Framework The theoretical framework employed in this study is Critical Discourse Analysis framework (2001). Advertisements are seen as media discourse as they involve language and social processes. Hence this framework is used to show the link between the nature of social practice and the properties of language â€Å"texts†. A qualitative design was adopted for this study. A qualitative study was appropriate in this study which seeks to investigate how discourse in advertisements involves people’s construction of meanings. Beauty product advertisements in English Language local magazines were analysed. Hence for a descriptive analysis, a qualitative analysis is more appropriate rather than a quantitative analysis. Purposive sampling was done as the study was to investigate only on beauty product advertisements where not many studies have been conducted namely lipstick, mascara and eye cream. Data was collected from two local women’s magazine, Cleo and Women’s Weekly from six issues consecutively from January to June 2012. Every advertisement on eye cream, lipstick and mascara from these magazines was retrieved and analysed. The data analysis is based on Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis framework (2001). Hence this framework is used to show the link between the nature of social practice and the properties of language â€Å"texts†. His three-dimensional framework includes a conception of discourse as text (micro level), discourse practice (meso level) and sociocultural practice (macro level). Its aim is to explore the relationships among language, ideology and power and to find out how advertisers persuade the women to buy their products. Thus, this study focused on analysing the linguistic features of beauty product advertisements in women’s magazines in Malaysia and highlights how the use of language tends to manipulate women beliefs based on the content of the advertisements. Figure 1. Fairclough’s three-dimensional model, 2001 62 www. ccsenet. org/ass Asian Social Science Vol. 9, No. 3; 2013 3. Results and Discussions The analysis is presented at the textual (micro), discursive practice (meso) and social practice (macro) level based on Fairclough’s (2001) CDA framework. 3. 1 Textual Analysis The textual analysis relates to research question 1 on the linguistic features in the advertisements analysed. At this level of analysis the linguistic features such as vocabulary, syntax and rhetorical devices employed in advertisements are discussed. In the study there was a great use of direct address in the advertisements for both ideological and practical reasons. The use of the second-person personal and possessive pronouns such as ‘you’ and ‘yours’ seek to address the readers directly and personally. When people are addresses individually rather than as part of mass audience it is considered highly valued. This handling of people on an individual basis is referred as ‘synthetic personalization’ (Fairclough, 1989:62). Based on the total fifty eight beauty products advertisements analysed, twenty had used direct address. Examples are as shown below: ?

Notes On Blue Terms - 1571 Words

DEFINITONS: BLUE TERMS AlbedoïÆ'   The amount of solar radiation that is reflected by a surface or object. If something has a high Albedo it reflects more of the Sun’s radiation, whereas a low reflection then reflects less. Snow and ice, both have a high albedo as they both reflect high proportions other Sun’s radiation. A couple examples of a substance having a low albedo would be vegetation (grass or trees) and oceans. Though the albedo of soils and earth does vary as factor such as cloud cover, snow, ice, leaf cover, and land use affect how much radiation a surface can reflect from the Sun. Electromagnetic RadiationïÆ'   Electromagnetic energy that comes from a source and is made up of electric and magnetic fields. Tis energy travels through a†¦show more content†¦Earth’s climate has always been changing, though the change that is being observed now is such a concern due to certain factors. The thing that is concerning about climate change is the rapid rate at which it is occurring. Changes in climate are happening at a very fast speed, changes in the past were dramatic but gradual at the same time, over a time span of thousands of years. Also, the possibility of climate change to continue at the same speed is very likely as many factors both natural and human activities affect it. Although the media often refer to Global Warming, a more appropriate term is Global Climate Change. Why does it matter, and what is the difference? A more appropriate term for the change we are witnessing in climate is Global Climate Change rather than Global Warming. The term Global warming means that the climate of the Earth is increasing in temperature, globally. Yes, the world is getting warmer although there are many factors that take a part in this change in climate. These factors such as precipitation, and evaporation are all part of this global change and in order to include all these changes a better term is needed rather than Global Warming. The term that can be used to modify the understanding of these changes is Global Climate Change. Global Climate Change