Growing Together
Discipline and Time Out
Lawrence Pradell, MD
Staff Pediatrician, Nemours Pediatrics at Peoples Plaza
Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Jefferson Medical
College
Discipline and Time Out
Goals for Tonight’s Talk:
 Discipline and the Rules Children Learn, as
a set of Laws or Guidelines
 Perspective and its importance on this
subject:
– From the parent
– From the child
– From the health care provider
Discipline and Time Out
 Behavior and the “Quick Fix”
 What we will not do tonight
Discipline and Time Out
Discipline:
The application of social rules in
response to behavior
(a working definition)
Discipline and Time Out
Children learn through observation,
discovering patterns in the environment
around them, both with objects and with
people.
Discipline and Time Out
 Children apply their knowledge:
– Learn to navigate the environment,
– The “Rules” of how things work allow the child to
master tasks to meet their needs.
Discipline and Time Out
Perspective:
Behavior Problem
Parent
Discipline and Time Out
Perspective:
Behavior Problem
Child
Discipline and Time Out
Perspective:
Behavior Problem
Pediatrician
Discipline and Time Out
Pediatrician’s Foremost Concerns:
Does the behavior concern brought by the
caregiver suggest an underlying problem in the
development or behavior of the child?
Or
Does the behavior concern suggest a problem in
the caregiving of the parent that carries
significant impact for this child’s progress and
safety?
Discipline and Time Out
 Specifics of the behavior concern:
–
–
–
–
Who
What
Where
When
Discipline and Time Out
 What is the response the child is getting
for the current behavior?
 Could this response be rewarding, from
the child’s point of view?
Discipline and Time Out
 Desirable Qualities of a Response:
– Immediate
– Intense
Discipline and Time Out
TIME OUT: Features of a Successful Program
 Initiated by the Specific Unwanted Behavior
 Immediate and Certain
 Attention Witholding
 Performed by a Calm and Neutral Adult
Discipline and Time Out
Questions?