Parenting rules: what not to say to your children

There is no shortage of parenting guides around. And the latest one tells mums and dads what NOT to say to their kids. 

The list, according to psychologist Gregg Chapman, includes:

• ‘You naughty boy/girl’
• ‘How many times have I told you?’
• ‘Don’t be stupid.’
• ‘You just wait until you get home.’

But parenting expert and author Maggie Dent said it was symptomatic of the ‘politically correct environment’ many kids are now raised in.

She said parents were inundated in the ‘saturation of information about how to be a perfect parent’ and lists such as this were often unhelpful. 

‘That’s just going to create a whole lot of guilt for a lot of mummies out there,’ she said. 

However Ms Dent said it was important not to use language that ‘shamed’ children, such as calling them ‘stupid’. 

Click play to hear from parenting author Maggie Dent