Is there such thing as a healthy time-out for kids?
- Dr Rosina
- May 14, 2024
- 1 min read
Updated: Apr 10
Parenting expert Dr Rosina writes for Wellbeing Magazine

When disciplining children, many parents use time-out, choosing it as a “better” alternative to smacking. However, there is evidence that this parenting tool is significantly more complex than parents think and some experts even consider it a harmful practice.
A controversial history
Time-out has been used in behavioural parenting programs since the 1960s. Shockingly, most people wouldn’t know that the technique was actually developed as a method of training laboratory animals and was later used to manage children’s behaviour. Yes, that’s right: it was developed to control animals and today is recommended by some experts as an approach parents can use to control their kids.
Comments