Screaming at a child is not only useless, but could also be harmful, according to many experts
Being parents is an incredible experience, which certainly fills one with joy and love; however, like all deep and complex experiences, it also involves a certain amount of stress and fatigue.
Running after energetic children who are always on the move, while at the same time repairing the damage that their fantasy and playful imaginations have caused - as well as doing household chores, work, etc. - undoubtedly requires a lot of energy, but also a lot of patience.
Therefore, there is the risk of needing to let off steam, and yelling at your children to obtain immediate obedience, also helps to release a bit of accumulated stress.
However, yelling and shouting at your children has extremely negative physical consequences. Here's what they are, and how to avoid giving in to raising your voice at your children.
The effects on your children
According to research conducted by the universities of Pittsburgh and Michigan, there are four ways in which yelling at children negatively affects their neurological and brain development.
- 1. The corpus callosum - which connects the two hemispheres of the brain - can receive a decreased flow of blood, damaging the child's balance and attention capacity;
- 2. Since yelling or shouting is used to warn of imminent danger, it stimulates the production of cortisol - the stress hormone - which predisposes the body to either attack or escape. Therefore, the child's body stiffens and thoughts are blocked;
- 3. Yelling at children will undermine their self-esteem and they may feel unloved or not appreciated, even if their parents' intention is to correct them;
- 4. Children who experience verbal violence may develop behavioral problems, such as a tendency to tell lies, depression, aggression, and poor performance in daily activities.
Why are you yelling at your children?
While not knowing in detail the negative effects of yelling at children, parents know, deep down, that their children will suffer. So why do they keep doing it? Essentially for these two reasons:
- 1. Often parents replicate the behavioral patterns that they experienced in their childhood: if their parents yelled at them, then they too will do it with their own children. So, let's free ourselves, from the influence of wrong parenting models, also in order not to condemn our children to do the same once they become adults.
- 2. One surrenders to an overload of stress and fatigue, exploding and manifesting your anger against those closest to you, your children. We know that it is unjust, as well as harmful: so, let's stop it.
Therefore, we need to arm ourselves with a lot of patience and face the most difficult moments with the awareness that sooner or later they will end, and also think about all the love that our children give us.
