Sometimes, children tend to misbehave. At such times, parents have to take measures to ensure that children are disciplined appropriately. In a bid to discipline a child appropriately, some parents make the mistake of over-reacting. Things that could have been handled with just a simple talk, they take it very seriously and over-flog the issue.

Not every time must a child be scolded or yelled out. Sometimes, a word of advice is enough to set a child back on the right track. Parents who are fond of yelling at their children for every little mistake they make push their children to the edge and put them in a position that affects them morally and emotionally.

Over-reacting as a parent can have both short-term and long-term effects on children. Some of the dangers of over-reacting include:

i. Low self-esteem/self-worth: When you keep yelling at children, it affects them emotionally and mentally. This causes them to feel inferior about themselves and the choices they make.

ii. Telling lies: When a child realizes that telling the truth about an error he/she made would cause the parent to scream, they choose to lie to save themselves from immediate punishment.

iii. Fear mentality: Yelling at a child every time causes them to grow up with a fear mentality. Such a mentality can affect the way they make decisions as some grow up second-guessing every choice they make in life.

As parents, it is important that children are raised with love and care. There are better ways to deal with the errors of a child than yelling at them all the time. Learn to have small talks with your child and be open to feedback from them. This way, the trust they have in you increases and their likelihood to repeat an error greatly reduces.