Middle-class parents, who shout at their teenage children, are increasing their risk of depression and troubled behavior. Even if parents enjoy a close relationship with their son and daughter, harsh verbal discipline (严厉的口头惩戒) was found to have a bad impact on their teens’ emotional development. This form of discipline can vary from yelling and shouting at a child, to swearing and using words to shame them.
Scientists looked at 976 families in the US, most of which were middle-class. During the experiment, teens and their parents completed surveys over a two-year period on topics, which were related to their mental health and the quality of the parent-child relationship.
About 90 percent of parents admit using harsh verbal discipline towards their children. They found that many parents changed from physical to verbal discipline as their children entered adolescence. If parents use such punishment when their child is 13, the teen is more likely to have behavioral or emotional problems later on, such as stealing, telling lies or fighting.
There’s no doubt that parents’ harsh verbal discipline is damaging to the developing adolescent. The thought that harsh discipline is without consequence, once there is a strong parent-child bond, is quite wrong, because parents’ warmth can’t lessen the effects of harsh verbal discipline.
Indeed, harsh verbal discipline appears to be harmful in all cases. Not only does harsh verbal discipline appear to be useless at dealing with behavior issues, it may actually add to the problem. Even if the parents were close to their child, this form of discipline still caused emotional damage. Parents’ hostility (敌意) could actually lead to an increase in the risk of adolescent conduct problems.
Dr Wang suggests parents, who want to discipline their teenage children, would benefit by talking with them about their concerns and the consequences of the behavior. The findings could influence future parenting programs, as well as encourage other methods of punishment rather than shouts and insults.
24. What’s the passage mainly about?
A. How to get on with the teenagers.
B. Why shouting makes teenagers worse.
C. How to build a good parent-child relationship.
D. What parents should do to help their teenagers.
25. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Punishment can help teenagers develop well.
B. Parents should often talk with children about their concerns.
C. Parents’ warmth can lessen the effects of harsh verbal discipline.
D. Harsh discipline works well once there is a strong parent-child bond.
26. The passage is most probably intended for .
A. the troubled teenagers
B. the teachers in school
C. parents having teenage children
B. children from middle-class families
27. What is the author’s attitude to the verbal discipline?
A. Objective B. Supportive. C. Doubtful. D. Critical.