Research finds verbal abuse leaves young people at greater risk of self-harm, drug use and going to prison
Parents who shout at their children or call them “stupid” are leaving their offspring at greater risk of self-harm, drug use and ending up in jail, new research claims.
Talking harshly to children should be recognised as a form of abuse because of the huge damage it does, experts say.
The authors of a new study into such behaviour say “adult-to-child perpetration of verbal abuse … is characterised by shouting, yelling, denigrating the child, and verbal threats”.
“These types of adult actions can be as damaging to a child’s development as other currently recognised and forensically established subtypes of mistreatment such as childhood physical and sexual abuse,” the academics say in their paper in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect.
On my wife's side of the family, her aunt has a daughter that the parents calmy talk to when ever she acts up. I think she's 8 now, and she's a little shit that back talks her parents when ever she's in trouble. She always has an attitude when she doesn't get her way. Meanwhile when ever our kids start getting lippy we do a stern talk and they stop. My kids are well behaved most of the time but man when ever we have a family get together that little girl always raises hell