Interview at least 2 parents from different families about their views on disciplining their children. These interviews may be conducted together or separately, but keep in mind the following pros/cons:

• you may get more honest answers separately since they wouldn’t be influencing each other
• you may start an interesting dialog between the parents if you interview together

In your interviews, make sure to address the following questions:

1. Prior to having children, how did you envision your discipline strategy? Did you consider using spanking and/or time outs?
2. Now that you are a parent, how would you describe your discipline habits? What methods do you use? Do you change your strategies as children get older?
3. If you use time outs, how long do you put your children in time out? Do you think time outs are effective?
4. Do you think spanking is effective? Why or why not? Are there scenarios where you think it is appropriate or inappropriate?
5. Do you consider spanking to be child abuse? Why or why not?
6. How do you think the cultural environment you live in influences the type of discipline methods you use? Are you more likely to use one method over another when you are in public situations?

Make note of information about the parents that you interview (social class, education if known, etc.) to help in the analysis and reflection

Submission Details

Submit your assignment with the following structure:

1. Proof of observation
   • Include a selfie of you with interview participants (these will not be shared with anyone other than your instructor)
2. Description of observation experience
   • Describe what the interview experience was like. 
   • For example: Were you familiar and comfortable talking with these parents? Were any questions more or less difficult to ask than others?
3. Analysis of observation 
   • What do you notice in comparing the responses between the two interviews? 
     • Be detailed in your analysis and incorporate course concepts as you examine your notes
   • Are there discrepancies that may be explain by any demographic or cultural factors?
   • Compare what you observed to topics covered by the course so far, both from a child development perspective and as if you were a parent
4. General Reflection 
   • Provide overall opinion about the information you gathered and the parents/families you visited.
   • Provide your assessment of the observation/activity process and experience (what you learned, what you wished you would have learned, what you would do differently).
5. Conclusion – Wrap it all up!
   • What did you learn?
   • What are key takeaways from this observation experience?
   • Is there a need for any sort of action or advocacy around discipline strategies?

You may submit your assignment in written, audio, or visual format. Be sure to address all parts of the assignment and analysis questions. 

Assignment Information & Reminders

As part of this course, you will be completing some assignments in the form of direct child observation, caregiver observation, and/or community activities/interviews. You will then use these observations along with course resources to complete 3 assignments for this course. These assignments are essential to understanding how the concepts we learn in this course apply to the real world.

Course Objectives

These assignments are organized to help you address all 5 of our course objectives.

1. Classify the physical, emotional, cultural, social and cognitive characteristics of children within various general stages of development spanning conception through middle childhood.
2. Examine the complex relationship between biological and environmental factors (including culture) and their impacts on the development of children, the learning process, and developmental parenting dynamics.
3. Apply major theoretical models, historical perspectives, and social and legal components that organize our understanding of child development and parenting norms.
4. Generate observations, records and reports of information on similarities and differences in development patterns and behaviors of children.
5. Contribute meaningfully to discourse/debate about challenges and solutions currently facing families in our world.