Is grounding your child for 7 months a ridiculous amount of time?

Answer 1

There is a song from a Gilbert ans Sullivan operetta that says "Let the punishment fit the crime."

For spilling a glass of juice on the new sofa it would be a bit much.

Answer 2

The grounding itself (which can often be offered up in the heat of the moment) isn't an unreasonable punishment - but 7 months is a very long time for a parent to try and administrate. It also seems like such an arbitrary amount of time - why 7 months?

Long after the "crime" has been all but forgotten will a continuing punishment really do any good?

I have found with my kids, it is better to punish immediately - it has more impact. It also works better with older kids who have many interests and activities outside the home. Grounding little kids who don't do much without their folks anyway is pretty pointless.

A week or two, or even a month for serial offenders, is usually all it needs, plus a stern talking to about re-earning trust.

If it was a truly serious, almost criminal activity that wound them up in trouble then perhaps you could also get a local law enforcement official to have a talk to them as well, even show them the lock up.

Answer 3

Yes. The degree of ridiculousness might vary depending on how old the child is, but still, that over half a year. In a teenager, that is almost assuredly going to create a deep well of resentment and rebellion, causing them to act out further. The punishment needs to be reasonable and proportionate to the offense and it should be something you should talk about with your child honestly and openly. Also, you shouldn't feel like you have to "back up" whatever your initial, probably very angry and/or very frightened, response was. You can change your mind and you should be able to do so understanding that you were reacting before and now you are really thinking and want to make a wise choice that serves the purpose of both discipline and encouragement to avoid whatever it was that happened in the future. Most kids, even teenagers, do not have a long view of the future, beyond the dreams of "10 years from now" etc, they have little perspective on what next month or 4 months or etc. will really mean and be like. And there are a lot of important life events that may be occurring in your child's life in the next 7 months that he or she will need to participate in. I think it is important to be flexible, understanding, and well-intentioned. Remember that you love your child and you want the best for him/her and that you don't want to push them away or make them feel trapped so that they react to that.

Answer 4

Grounding itself is ridiculous. WHY would you put yourself in the position of being whined at on a daily basis? I never grounded my daughter. She was brought up and disciplined on the behavior/privelige system. Nothing was giving to her other than those things she was entitled too (food, clothing, roof over hr head, bedroom, books, some toys) There was NO television, no computer, no video game systems, no videos, no phone and no stereo unless she behaved. When she showed good behavior she would get an hour of whatever she wanted. She didn't have anything other than her bed, her dresser, her bookshelf with books and stuffies on it in her bedroom. Everything else was in the family room, we had a stereo, a computer, a television complete with dvd player/vhs video system/surround sound/PSP2. She didn't get her own phone until she was able to pay for it. When she was 17 she was able to purchase her own computer so of course it did go into her room. When she was almost 18 she purchased her own television. No she was NOT a perfect angel and missed out on a number of things. As she grew up things like dances and parties became priveliges and if she didn't behave she missed out...imagine spending all the money to get a prom dress, shoes, handbag only to screw it up the day before and having to call the boy to say you can't go.

Answer 5

Yes. Just remember that kids are growing up faster than you. 7 months is a significant amount of time for them and what happened 5 months ago seems so irrelevant to what is happening right now.

Answer 6

That would really depend upon just how bad an offense the child was guilty of. If he or she did something life-threatening--harmed him/herself or others, was brought home by the police--and could have been taken into custody--7 months might not even be enough!!!

Answer 7

It depends on what they did! IF it was that bad I wouldn't ground for that long just find something for them to do like some kind of community volunteer program or make them pick up trash on your street (With You supervising) There are more ways to discipline then just simple grounding.

Answer 8

yes grounding a child for more than a week is no good for they will sneak around on u from now on talk to them and make them work for there trust back. they will love u in the long run just remember when u were a kid

Answer 9

How old is the child, what did they do? Have they learnt their lesson? 7? Strange amount. Why 7? They must have done something really bad!!!

Answer 10

i would think so what did the child do? kill someone ? how is a child suposed to learn if they are not given the time to screw up? some kids just need to learn from there mistakes but if you don't give them that oportunity they will rebel and really pull a doozy let the kid out for gawd sake