Originally Posted by Piobaire
I think the concept of "time outs" almost deserves its own poll. Purely anecdotal, but to a child, the ones I see where "time out" is the preferred discipline of choice, you get bratty, misbehaved, spoiled little monsters that have no respect for adults, particularly their parents.
The issue is that timeouts have to be strictly enforced and make the kid miserable to be effective. Most parents just aren't willing to follow through and that's why it doesn't really work. There are times however, when the kids are REALLY young (say under 7) when timeouts are about the only thing that will work.
Disciplining properly without spanking is REALLY difficult and most parents who reject spanking do a damned poor job of it. It requires (for most people) extensive professional training and committment over a period of years to make it work. Many parents are unwilling to do that so they wind up with bratty kids.
The basic brain functions of pleasure seeking and pain avoidance really are the primary motivators, despite how "developed" we think we've become. Children are master manipulators and if they aren't controlled early, often and consistently will become little monsters.