The Seven Worst Things to Say to Your Child

by Chick Moorman

In an effort to influence Caitlin's behavior in the grocery store, her father told her, "If you don't stop that. I'm going to leave you here."

Following Mack's confession that he had helped himself to recently baked cookies, his mother scolded him, "You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

Both parents were attempting to control their children. Both believed they were providing love and direction. Both potentially harmed their children by using Parent Talk that wounds the spirit.

Our style of Parent Talk and the words we use to communicate are critically important to the self-esteem, emotional health, and personal empowerment of our children. There is an undeniable link between the words we use and the attitudes and outcomes they create in their lives.

Words can empower and words can wound. They can nurture or shame, encourage or scold, uplift or bring down.

No parent wakes up in the morning and thinks to himself or herself, "Now, I wonder what I can say today that will build negative core beliefs in my children, tear down their confidence, and leave them feeling dependent and out of control." Yet, parents often do just that, unintentionally, because they don't understand the full impact of their words.

Here are the seven worst things you can say to your child

"If you don't stop that, I'm going to leave you here."

A young child's worst fear is that he or she will be lost or left alone and unsafe. Threatening a child by playing into that fear of abandonment in an effort to manipulate him into a desirable behavior is a sure sign that the parent needs to be in time-out.

One alternative is to give your child a choice. Instead of scaring your son, tell him, "Brian, if you keep choosing that behavior we'll go home. If you choose to talk in a normal voice we'll stay and shop. You decide."

Another alternative is to stop and take a break. It just might be that one or both of you needs a rest or a nap.

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

This Parent Talk is an attempt to create guilt in the heart of the recipient. The belief is that if the child can be shamed into feeling guilty, she'll change her behavior and do what we desire.

There are times when shaming works and produces the behavior we want from a child. But at what price? Along with the shame and guilt come core beliefs of "I am wrong," "I'm not enough," and "I can never do anything right." When children act out of these core beliefs, they attract more shaming, which confirms their beliefs and perpetuates the cycle of behaviors that elicit further shaming responses.

"We never wanted you, anyway."

"I wish I never had you," "If I had it to do over again, I would never have children," and "We never wanted you, anyway" are inexcusable pieces of Parent Talk. Regardless of what the child has done and no matter what his tone of voice, these parental responses are totally inappropriate. This language should serve as a signal that something is more than amiss in your child/parent relationship. Use it as a catalyst to get some help. Turn to a counselor, clergy member or school authority. Do it now. You and your children are worth it.

"You're the reason we're getting a divorce."

No child is ever the reason his or her parents are getting a divorce. And no child should be expected to carry that emotional burden. Even when we explain carefully and lovingly to a child that she is in no way responsible for our decision to separate or divorce, she holds fantasies that she is somehow responsible. "If I had only been different," she thinks, "my parents would still be together." "If I had just been better, they wouldn't have fought so much" is a common, if unspoken, belief that children often hold.

"Why can't you be more like your brother or sister?"

When parents verbally compare siblings someone is shown to be deficient. They send messages to the child that he is not smart enough, good enough, fast enough, or thorough enough. "You're not good enough" messages internalize as core beliefs and contribute to undesirable behavior in the future.

Comparisons increase sibling rivalry, intensifying the natural rivalry which already exists and create more hassles for the parents. Comparisons also damage the relationship between siblings by fostering feelings of separateness.