One study that did take a look at the topic � a paper on the �psychological aggression by American parents� published in the Journal of Marriage and Family in 2003 � found that parental yelling was a near-universal occurrence. Of 991 families interviewed, in 88 percent of them a parent acknowledged shouting, screaming or yelling at the kids at least once (though it didn�t specify how many did it more often) in the previous year.
�We are so accustomed to this that we just think parents get carried away and that it�s not harmful,� said one of the study�s lead authors, Murray A. Straus, a sociologist who is a director of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire. �But it affects a child. If someone yelled at you at work, you�d find that pretty jarring. We don�t apply that standard to children.�
Call in the troops, 88% of parents in a study dared to shout or yell at a kid at least once in a previous year. Does anyone out there find the extreme concern over this behavior by parents concerning itself? While yelling or shouting in an inconsistent manner is not a good way to discipline, yelling to show displeasure once in a while is hardly a sin. Screaming just to scream is not helpful but asking in an angry tone why a child did something wrong seems, well...normal. A parent's displeasure can sometimes teach little Jane or Johnnie how to act--and sometimes, gasp! that might call for a displeased tone.
Spanking is considered child abuse, now shouting is frowned upon. Is there anything parents can do to correct their child that places like the New York Times don't despise, besides timeout which merely teaches a child that hitting his or her sibling gets the same lame punishment as making a mess on the floor?
Update: The Last Psychiatrist has more on Shouting vs. Spanking.