Modern ways to discipline our children
After more than 30 years, popular animated series, The Simpsons, has retired one of its longest running and outdated gags. In a recent episode, Homer Simpson says he no longer strangles his son, Bart, stating that times have changed. What impact does violence in media and entertainment have on our children?
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After more than 30 years, popular animated series, The Simpsons, has retired one of its longest running and outdated gags. In a recent episode, Homer Simpson says he no longer strangles his son, Bart, stating that times have changed. Let's look into this further with parenting expert, Dr. Bailey Bosch, hello, Bailey.
Hello.
Some people think movies and TV shows are becoming too woke. What do you make of this move from the series?
Well, I think firstly, talking about times have changed, I don't think it was ever in fashion to strangle kids. But certainly, shows are now reflecting what we think of as appropriate cultural, societal behaviour. So, there's always going to be the diehard fans who are not going to like any changes to their favourite shows, but like anything, I suppose it has to move with what's culturally expected.
What impact does violence in media and entertainment have on our children?
Well, of course, it's going to have some impact, but it's like anything, it depends on the context that it's viewed in. It depends on the levels of consumption, and certainly, the moderation that's around it. So, if you're watching something as a family, you have the opportunity to talk about it, to put your views across, to say if you find it acceptable or unacceptable, ask the kids what they think about it. Or in fact, let's give them a little bit of credit and ask them, do they actually know that this is purely entertainment, it's fantasy, it's not something that would be ever seen out in the real world.
What about parents? Can it influence the way parents parent?
I think what influences how parents parent is, you know, what they grew up with, what was done to them. So, they're either going to repeat that, or they're going to possibly take a completely opposite approach to that. Like anything, you're influenced by what you see around you, so it's going to have some kind of impact. But what we have with parents is a real lack of confidence. There is an information overload, and they're losing that confidence in their own intuition and what suits them more, aligns with their family values.
What are some more effective ways then to discipline children?
Well, you could just turn off the Wi-Fi, but um, you know, just joking. That's sort of what we were talking about nowadays. Is there's ways that we, if we're trying to discipline, we're trying to either increase a behaviour that's that we're wanting, or we're going to decrease something that we don't want. So, if you want to get a long-lasting result, you have to look at the cause of that behaviour. How can you problem solve? How can you educate? How can you provide an alternative?
You say there's information overload, parents are perhaps getting a bit confused, but are we also becoming too gentle? I mean, how can we maintain that firm but fair approach?
So, the opposite of, you know, strangling your kids isn't being gentle and doing nothing. There's certainly a need to be fair, but also we need to go a step further and realise in a family, it's like any system, it needs a hierarchy. Parents need to feel empowered. They need to understand they're the leaders. They've got little children, children who don't have the cognitive ability to make these decisions, so they need to make the hard decisions for the family. Tell kids what's acceptable and not acceptable, and be confident to follow through with it.
Well, we're sure the change being made to The Simpsons will be welcomed by many. Dr. Bailey Bosch, thank you very much. We'll see you again soon.