by Allison Hall, MD
Principals of good parenting like paying attention to positive behavior and using time out may sound easy but can be difficult to put into practice. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has recently created a website on parenting young children with some excellent explanations, useful forms such as schedules and charts as well as videos which illustrate parenting techniques which are supported by decades of research. The videos, which have a humorous touch, illustrate pitfalls we often tumble into as parents and show concrete examples of how to communicate positively, give clear instructions, create structure, and set rules and use consequences including time out.
The site has a very supportive, non-critical tone. It recognizes that all children are different and there is no one size fits all method of parenting. The short videos could be an excellent jumping off place for discussing the use of these techniques with parents.
