Is there a way to discipline children?
You would have heard “Kids need to be disciplined!”
What do we mean when we say this? Generally, we want kids to conform to a certain behavior pattern- one which we think is correct. Nothing wrong about that. A few things to consider-
ARE YOU DISCIPLINED-Discipline is good. No question about it. The amount of discipline we can live within our lives varies from person to person and will, therefore, vary from family to family. You cannot teach your child to be disciplined if you are not. Children observe and learn.
NEGATIVE STROKES? We give names to kids when they do things. Like “good girl” when they do something good. Or “princess” when they dress up. Or bad girl when they do something wrong. No one likes to be called bad- including your child.
So, refrain from using such words and say “Why would you do that?” or “better say “That wasn’t right – we don’t do that”.
BALANCE – getting your child to behave in a manner that you want them to might be difficult because they also have external influences. If you think certain external influences are not good for them, remove them from such environments early on so that you can find it easier to inculcate the right behavior. If you cannot then use those environments as an example of what you don’t want them to do.
PUNISHMENT- Often linked with Discipline, punishment should be more about give and take to make it effective. Children need to understand that they can’t have everything they want or desire if they don’t exhibit the expected behavior.
What are the techniques you employ to discipline your children?
Please share your experiences and views in the comment section below.
