Scripts For School-Age Kids: Why Time-Outs Don't Work

Sending a child to timeout for rudeness or bickering rarely teaches anything. Here's what connected consequences look like at ages 5 to 9, with exact scripts.

This Week’s Scenario

Your seven-year-old snaps at you, or winds up their sibling for the third time before breakfast, or answers back in a tone that makes your eye twitch. And you send them to their room, or to the corner, or to sit somewhere alone until further notice.

It gets quiet. You get a moment. And then everyone just sort of moves on without anyth…