Parenting With Duct Tape: What Is It?

Duct Tape Parenting is a less-is-more approach to raising respectful, responsible, and resilient kids. It emphasizes training and relationship strategies over traditional “band aid techniques” like nagging or time-outs. Duct Tape Parenting encourages parents to avoid using “band aid techniques” and instead focus on developing children’s confidence through problem-solving. The book overview emphasizes the importance of using as much tape as needed and tape as many body parts as necessary to stay out, let go, stop jumping in, sit back, and keep going.

The central conceit of Duct Tape Parenting is that kids need autonomy and responsibility, and that attention of any kind, negative or positive, is not necessary. This approach provides parents with a new perspective on effective parenting and helps them develop confidence through problem-solving. Speaker, facilitator, and parent educator Hoefle suggests that Duct Tape Parenting is an untested parenting challenge with no hand-holds or guarantee of a good outcome.