Standing in the Corner as Time-Out

When your child misbehaves, is making him stand in the corner punishment enough? A friend of mine swears by it. She theorizes that if fun makes a kid’s world go round, boredom just sucks the life out of it.

Boredom is the worst kind of time-out for a kid, she shares. And what’s more boring than staring at a blank wall?

For standing-in-the-corner to be an effective time-out for kids though, there are certain things you have to make sure of. First, make sure your kid’s facing a blank wall — no paintings or crayons she can access for some wall-doodling. Second, take away any toys in the area. The key is for her to be really bored, she stresses. And third, be firm. As with any time-out, Mom and Dad need to be consistent and not give in so quickly.

Another friend shared though that standing in the corner does not work at all for her daughter, whose imagination is very rich, she says. When asked to stand in the corner one time, her daughter had no qualms. She played pretend with imaginary friends and just sang her heart out while waiting for time-out to end. She was hardly bored, and her Mom did have to think of an alternative time-out for her daughter. I guess it doesn’t work for everyone!

Boredom as a kid’s worst punishment sounds like an interesting theory. There is nothing worse than not having anything to do after all, especially when one’s curiosity is at its peak. What do you think?