Making your child listen to themselves cry: Is that child abuse?

Question

If I were to record a 2 year old's crying/yelling session, then play it back at some point when the child was calm and happy over speakers in his/her room. Would that be considered child abuse?

The point of it would be two-fold. It would be a punsishment of sorts and also to show him what it is like listening to him cry. Do you think this would help, hurt, or have any effect? I have not heard of any punishment like this before but it just came to me.

FYI, I don't have children but I do babysit from time-to-time. Keep in mind this is a walking and talking 2 year old. This would have little to no effect on infants I assume.

I'm sorry. This is a response to one of the answers I saw posted, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the question:

I believe 2 year old's do need punishment. A 2 year old does know the difference between right and wrong on a basic level. They know what the word 'No' means. When they do something the 2nd or 3rd time after you told them not to, they know exactly what they are doing. You can tell this because they are generally sneakier about it and are looking around so they can escape getting in trouble.

Also once this 2 year old is busted, he will throw down the evidence and pretend like he was being good all along. This further shows that he does know what he is doing is wrong or atleast that I don't want him to do it. Either way he has made the conscious decision to be disobedient, this blatant disobedience deserves punishment.

Answer 1

sounds like you're talking about temper tantrums? I would say it is cruel. mostly because a two year old having a tantrum most likely doesn't have any control over it. They have tantrums because they're overwhelmed and can't process their emotions, not because they feel like being rotten. You need to help them calm down, not torture them. And playing it after the fact will just confuse them.

I also think it;s wrong because it's not your child and it's not up to you to come up with punishments. If you have a problem with the child's behaviour, you need to speak with the parents and ask them how they'd like you to deal with it.

Answer 2

I don't feel that it is "abuse" in the legal sense of the word but I don't know that it would do anything. In my developmental psych class we talked about a study of infants where they listened to tapes of children crying (it was supposed to figure out the reasons behind sympathetic crying ie are they upset for the other child or just want to cry too). Apparently infants can tell the difference between a tape of themselves crying and a tape of another child crying...and will only start crying along with the tape when it's another child that's crying on it. Just some interesting information. However I don't think it would do anything other than mildly annoy a 2 year old. I definitely don't think they would understand what was going on...especially if it wasn't occurring immediately after the punishment worthy action. I have an 18 month old and if you don't reprimand her immediately then usually she doesn't understand why you're mad at her.

Answer 3

People who don't understand or grew up in a different situation or even a different time. It is qualified as abuse if it leaves a mark mentally and physically. You will find most people just don't want to believe it because it is something bad and they don't want to see the bad things in life and choose to ignore it until it happens to or hits closer to home for them. Cutters I know do it to punish themselves or because it's something they have control over. Overcoming what brings us down is what has to be done. If you are being abused and there are scars and marks contact a counselor at your school or even a teacher they will know what to do. If cutting is the issue I would do the same talk to someone you trust, because cutting can lead to bigger consequences.

Answer 4

I don't think this is a good idea. Why? Because a 2 year old child will not understand why this is happening. When you discipline a child, you should do so as he/she is throwing the fit, so that they understand what it is that they are doing wrong. You don't wait until after, they won't understand such a thing, especially at 2.

Answer 5

Ineffectual. A two year old doesnt have the ability to make the connections your adult mind is trying to make. Two year olds generally dont need "punishment" either; they are trying to communicate something that they do not yet have the verbal skills to communicate.

And, when i say that two year olds do not need "punishment", I did not mean that they do not need direction or reinforcement for good behaviors. However, they are too young to understand "punishment" yet.

Answer 6

Sounds counter-productive to me.
When I used to baby-sit my youngest sister and she would throw a tantrum, I would also start whining and crying and flailing my arms about. It worked like a charm, she'd calm down immediately and look at me like I was nuts. And then I would distract her with something else before she remembered she had been upset. (Of course this was when she was too young to reason with.)

Answer 7

... I don't think that would be considered child abuse nor would a young child get the point of it. "This is what it's like to hear me cry/yell... Wow! Maybe I should stop doing it.. Oh, I feel so bad now!"... I doubt that will be his thought process.

Answer 8

it dosent sound like abuse, but i dont think it will help. just stick with the time-outs. 2 year olds arent as smart as we are. this seems like a good thing to try on teenagers, or people with bad tempers.

Answer 9

When my 2yr. old does something wrong, I redirect him right away and give him a time out when it's needed.I find that it's best to ignore my 2yr. old while he has a temper tantrum.

I've never heared of your method, but every child is different.

Answer 10

you might get more of an effect if you recorded it and played it back during a tantrum, he would stop crying to see whats going on hehe