Think before shouting at your child: to them, words can be as harmful as physical blows | Peter Fonagy | The Guardian

Think before shouting at your child: to them, words can be as harmful as physical blows | Peter Fonagy | The Guardian: It%20is%20in%20fact%20not%20until%20almost%20the%20second%20decade%20of%20life%20that%20children%20learn%20to%20understand%20irony%2C%20that%20adults%20may%20not%20literally%20mean%20what%20they%20say.%20They%20do%20not%20get%20the%20joke%20behind%20a%20phrase%20such%20as%20%u201Cyou%20stupid%20boy%u201D%20or%20%u201Cyou%20wicked%2C%20wicked%20girl%u201D.%20Considerable%20brain%20development%20is%20needed%20for%20a%20child%20to%20fully%20understand%20an%20adult%u2019s%20intention%20that%20these%20and%20similar%20verbal%20putdowns%20are%20intended%20not%20to%20shame%20and%20humiliate%2C%20but%20are%20intended%20as%20educational%20devices%20to%20correct%20and%20shape%20their%20behaviour.%0A%0A