Parenting – 3 Tips for Effective Discipline
Many parents experience difficulty in figuring out how to correct their child’s behavior – viewing discipline as punishment. The truth is, discipline is about teaching your child boundaries and self control – important ingredients to raising a happy, healthy adult. Here are some general tips to help you effectively discipline your children:
1. Set concrete consequences – Consequences for a child’s problem behavior have to be clearly understood by both you and the child. Using generalized statements like, “if I have to tell you one more time, you’ll be sorry!” or “if you do that again you will get a consequence” only serve to teach your child to test your limits. Warnings like these do not clearly define what is going to happen if the behavior continues. Instead, decide and discuss with your child in advance what consequences you are prepared to give for specific behaviors. Each time you observe the problem behavior, remind the child of the pre established consequence. For example, “Because you hit her, you earned a 10 minute time-out”.
2. Stay calm – .Children closely monitor what we do. When it comes to teaching children self-discipline, one of the most important things you can do is to model self-control. To teach your child to stay calm when he/she is upset – do it yourself. Remember that you are in charge. Instead of yelling, stomping, etc when you are upset – take a moment to be still. Calm your thoughts and heart rate. When you feel settled, readdress the situation using a matter of fact tone.
3. Be consistent and follow through– Consequences will immediately loose effectiveness if not consistently implemented . Even though it is difficult, stick to your word and resist negotiations. By following though you are teaching your child boundaries. If they don’t experience the consequence, they will just keep making the same mistakes.