TIME-OUT DEVICE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a time-out device for aiding behaviour modification in child discipline. In particular, it relates to such a device that periodically emits prerecorded voice messages to help misbehaving children reflect during a 'time-out' period scenario upon their preceding undesirable behaviour as well as providing feedback on time either remaining or served during that period. The device also helps familiarise such children with the concept of time and numbers in general and thus has an ancillary educational role.

BACKGROUND ART

The time-out disciplinary method has been widely accepted for children usually between the ages of 2 and 11. It involves removing parental/guardian attention from the child after undesirable activity or behaviour by the child, by placing them in a different environment such as a 'naughty step' or 'naughty chair' for a given time period so that the child can return to normalised behaviour thereafter, having calmed down and reflected upon what they have done wrong. Generally, the overall length of 'time-out' is related to the child's age. Thus, time-out for a 4 year old would be 4 minutes and 5 minutes for a 5 year old and so forth. Time can be added-on or re-set for any misbehaviour or deviations by the child during the time-out session.

A fundamental problem inherent with this concept is that it is extremely difficult to direct a young child to engage in the relatively complex cognitive process of reflecting upon their own behaviour especially given that the parent/guardian is to avoid any interaction with the child in time-out, so as not to inappropriately and inadvertently reward and therefore negatively reinforce such behaviours. Further, children usually have a short attention span and thus can potentially readily forget why they were given time-out in the first instance.

Moreover, young children typically have no real concept of time, which increases the danger that they can become preoccupied with thinking and asking, prematurely and repeatedly, when their time-out will finish and thus leading to undue anxiety and frustration. In turn, if the parent/guardian reacts to these situations by interacting with the child, for instance by verbally informing them how long they have remaining in time-out, this serves to provide counter-productive attention to the child and thereby contravenes a fundamental principle of time out, namely that it is actually time away from the comfort of parental/guardian attention. The same is true if the parent/guardian interacts with the child to inform them of any additional time added-on minutes or time re-set if the child deviates from the time-out session.

WO-A-2007/135365 discloses a time-out pad or seat on which a naughty child is placed. By sensing weight and therefore the presence of a child on the pad, it sets off an alarm system if the child moves off the pad in order to alert the parent during time-out. Also, the duration of time in time-out is abstractly represented via a 'traffic light' signaling system. However, this device does not pro-actively direct or guide the child to reflect upon their behaviour and nor does it provide any visual or auditory feedback of linear concrete time remaining in terms of actual minutes or seconds. Furthermore, for any deviations during time-out by the child, re-setting has to be carried out manually on the pad itself through parental/guardian involvement which potentially provides further attention to the child, which can be rewarding and therefore reinforcing. In essence, the pad can be seen as more of a punitive containment device for detaining the child in a time-out scenario as opposed to a means of addressing the main purpose of the exercise, namely to aid behaviour modification through reflection without further reinforcing attention.

US-A-2005/249048 discloses a more general child's time-keeping device, as opposed to a specific time-out aid, that provides a visual indication of how much time has elapsed by controlling a corresponding movement of an object (for example a toy vehicle) along a display from a beginning point to an end point. The reaching of the end point may optionally be accompanied by a sound. As such the proposed device displays the

passing of time in an abstract form only and can be used for generalised time-monitored activities.

WO-A-9601444 discloses a child's disciplinary device that includes a plush toy (for example a cuddly bear) and a countdown timer secured to the toy. Although setting the secured timer sets the time-out period, the correspondence between ages and time-out periods is non-linear. Further, the device has the confounding effect of rewarding misdemeanours by giving the child a toy to play with. Moreover, it serves to potentially distract the child from reflection rather than encouraging it. No pro-active audio feedback is given to the child during the time-out period, no audio time remaining information is provided, and the device has no re-set function if the child deviates from a time-out session that avoids any further involvement/interaction by the time-out enforcer.

It is one aim of the present invention to provide a time-out device for use in time-out situations that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art and helps children to reflect more fully during a time-out session upon their preceding undesirable behaviour by progressing the presently limited time-out method from a mere behaviourism technique to a more integrated approach through the use of pro-active cognitive components.

It is a second aim of the present invention to provide such a time-out device that also provides visual and auditory feedback on concrete linear time-out minutes remaining, or time served, with the extraneous positive educational by-product of helping children to become conversant with the passing of time and to familiarise them with numbers.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Thus, according to one aspect, the present invention provides a time-out device as claimed in accompanying claim 1.

Further advantageous and optional features are mentioned in the accompanying subsidiary claims.

The present invention seeks to help children to reflect upon their behaviour during timeout by giving pre-recorded messages, accompanied by auditory reminders and visual information of minutes remaining, or served, which are set off at the start and, preferably, as each minute passes of their stated time-out period. These messages actively remind the child, in a calm voice using child friendly language, of the need to think about their behaviour. A final message, towards or at the end of the time-out period, may suggest that they apologize to and hug the person who put them in time-out once the period has finished (for the general purpose of encouraging children to bear no grudges and move on), whilst reminding them not to repeat the undesirable behaviour.

The present invention will now be described, in a non-limiting way, by the following preferred examples with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying figures, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Figure IA illustrates a front perspective view of a time-out device according to one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure IB shows a rear perspective view of the time-out device shown in Figure IA;

Figure 1C illustrates a front perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a time-out device according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic flow diagram depicting one specific example of a sequence of events during the operation of the time-out device shown in Figures IA, B & C; and

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a wireless remote control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention for operating the device shown in Figures IA, B & C.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A time-out device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figure IA having a timer display 2. In this example, the timer display 2 is a clock type face that has intervening linear periods of time indicated by numbers 3 to which a single sweep hand 4 points. Control buttons 5 allow the device to be started and, if necessary, re-set during the time out period. Such control buttons 10 may also or alternatively be provided upon a remote control device 9, the remote control device 9 being described in more detail below.

The rear of the device is shown in Figure IB which shows speakers 8 that emit proactive audio messages to the child at set intervals as well as audio time reminders, and a control panel 7 that may enable the settings of the device's general functions to be varied.

Although a clock type face is preferred, older children may find a digital time output equally acceptable.

In use, a misbehaving child is placed in a suitably quiet location such as a 'naughty step' away from the parent or guardian and the device 1 is set for a period of time appropriate for their age. Thus, a period of 5 minutes may be set for a 5 year old and so forth. When the device 1 is started, an initial message is preferably emitted that tells the child that their period of time-out has started, how many minutes they have to stay in time-out and the need to use this time to reflect upon their preceding undesirable behaviour. Thereafter, regular messages accompanied by time remaining, or served, reminders are typically emitted, usually coinciding with when the sweep hand 4 of the device reaches each number (3) on the clock-type face 2 (see Figure 2). Finally, when the hand 4 reaches the top (or near it) of the face 2 (usually pointing to a 'zero') a final message is emitted at the conclusion of the time out period.

The auditory messages with accompanying minutes remaining, or served, reminders may come pre-recorded (preferably using an adult voice) or, alternatively, they can be re-recorded (preferably by the parent or guardian) by deploying such a facility located on the timer 1 and/or on a remote control device 9 (see Figure 3).

Preferably, an auditory reminder of how many minutes are remaining, or served, in time-out is emitted to accompany the pre-recorded/re-recorded messages. This, coupled to the corresponding visual numeric display on the device, has the highly beneficial educational effect of familiarising young children with numbers and, specifically, the passing of time since it correlates in a linear, concrete way (as opposed to an arbitrary or abstract way) to actual time. Thus, 1 minute as depicted on the clock type face 2 is usually an actual minute of time-out, and so forth. This is more easily understood by children and helps in preparing them for learning about time and numbers. Moreover, it negates the need for children to inappropriately enquire and potentially engage the parent in interaction relating to the duration of their time-out period.

During time-out, if the child behaves in an undesirable fashion, thereby creating the need to re-set the time-out duration or add-on time, this can be done manually on the device control 5/7 itself, which is child tamper proof, and/or preferably on the wireless remote control unit 9 (see Figure 3). The added benefit of the remote unit is that the parent can still control the time-out device 1 at a distance whilst avoiding unnecessary contact and interaction with the child. The remote unit 9 preferably has a simple indicator 11 corresponding to the device 1 time to remotely inform the parent of how long the child has remaining, or served, in time-out on the device 1. This allows the person enforcing the time-out period to go about their business during the time-out scenario and not to have to constantly keep a close watch on the child.

The device 1 can be placed near the child, either out of reach or within reach. The device may also include an attachment means to enable it to be fixed for example by being hung from a hook or such like. Alternatively, the device may be structured so as

to be able to free standing and, as such, be capable of being placed on a step or shelf and so forth.

Preferably the device is robust and has a soft outer seal 6, such as rubber or plastic, which can protect it if dropped or mistreated and moreover ensure the safety of children throughout. The mechanisms of the device 1 and/or the remote unit 9 are also preferably child tamper-proof.

Optionally, a listening device may be attached to the device 1 that picks up and transmits surrounding sounds to the remote handset 9 that acts as the auditory receiving device to ensure that the child can be monitored (akin to a 'baby monitor') in terms of behaviour and safety during time-out if, for instance, the time-out enforcer is going to be in a different room or area.

Similarly, this auditory listening option may be visual as well as auditory, if desired, for example by means of a small moving images camera attached to the device 1, the images from which may be transmitted to the remote handset receiver 9.

Optionally, a volume control function may be provided on the device 1, operated via the device control button(s) 5 or control panel 7 and/or the remote handset 9. The on/off button may be located on the device 1 itself and/or on the remote handset 9. The device 1 and the remote handset 9 may be electrically powered, for example from a battery, mains or solar-generated supply.

In a particularly preferred embodiment (see Fig 1C), the device 1 has an LCD display 2 that preferably uses the whole of the display face 2 for any given time-out period setting. The displayed period may be activated via the remote control 9 (Fig 3), the start preferably being indicated at the top of the clock type face 2 for example with a single hand 4 sweeping counter-clockwise from the top, returning back around to the top finish point, and encountering intervening minute markers 3 along the way. Additionally, the duration of the time remaining may be represented as one or more highlighted coloured

zone(s) 12 of contrasting colour, the size or number of the zone(s) diminishing either continuously or in discrete segments as less time remains and until time-out eventually finishes. In a preferred embodiment, one zone is used that ever diminishes in a continuous manner, being preferably coloured red.

An optional earphone socket 13 may be provided, enabling headphones/earphones to be used to listen to the auditory messages in noisy or busy environments such as classrooms.

The time-out duration is usually set according to the age of the child, according to an accepted 1 minute per age of child rule of thumb, so that a 3 year old should be set 3 minutes on the device, a 5 year old 5 minutes, and so on. Furthermore, time may be added-on for deviations during time-out, for example in increments, with 1 minute increments being the optimum in most particularly preferred embodiments.

In summary, the present invention solves the problem of guiding a child to think about their behaviour during a time-out period via recorded voice reminders; avoiding interaction with the child during the period (since the device shows and gives feedback as to how long they have remaining, or served); and has the added educational advantage of helping children to understand the passing of time, as well as familiarising them with numbers in general.