7 Effective Discipline Techniques to Use Instead of Spanking ...

Melissa

7 Effective Discipline Techniques to Use Instead of Spanking ...
7 Effective Discipline Techniques to Use Instead of Spanking ...

Have you ever wondered about effective discipline techniques to use on your children? It’s a common concern for many parents. While spanking may work for some, it isn’t something every parent is okay with. I’m not here to debate whether or not spanking is right, instead I want to discuss other effective discipline techniques to try.

1. Time Outs

Time outs are a pretty effective discipline technique if you are consistent with it. Being consistent is hard because children can be so defiant at times. Once your child is acting out and you decide to put him in time out, tell him how long you expect him to sit there. Every time they talk or get up the timer starts over. Stay strong and continue to place the child back in time out until they have sat for the amount of time you deemed appropriate. Some children experts suggest one minute for every year of age, so a five year old would spend five minutes in time out.

2. Redirecting

Sometimes children are naughty because the things around them are too tempting or they may be bored with their surroundings. If this is the case with your child, try to redirect their attention to something more positive. For example if your toddler son is using his toy hammer to bang on your favorite knick-knacks move them to a higher shelf where he can no longer reach and direct him towards the blocks that are meant to be hammered.

3. Taking Away Favorite Toys

You may get better results from an older child with this effective discipline technique. All children have an item or a certain privilege that means the world to them. If your daughter is in trouble for staying out past curfew or talking back, consider taking away her phone or iPod. This is sure to cause a teenage meltdown, but will make them think twice about the bad behavior next time.

4. Natural Consequences

Some ill behavior comes with natural consequences. In these cases it may not be necessary to punish your child. Instead let nature take its course and watch your child learn a life lesson the hard way.

5. Housework

This is one effective discipline technique that works wonders at my house. My child has her chores and responsibilities, but when she gets out of line mom can come up with some very interesting tasks as punishment. Once she had to clean up all the marks on the walls after I caught her attempting to draw on her bedroom wall. She’s never tried that one again.

6. Discussion

Of course there are times when a stern talk can really drive the message through. For some children simply knowing that your parents are deeply disappointed in poor behavior is enough to draw up guilt and make them want to correct their ways. Discussion also helps a child understand why their actions are wrong. In some cases they really may not know or understand why the thing they did was wrong.

7. Ignoring

Some behaviors just need ignoring. This probably works better on younger children than it does older ones. When my daughter was a toddler she tried to talk to me in a whinny voice. There is nothing more annoying to me than a whine. For a week whenever she would whine, “Mommy, I can’t do this,” I pretended not to hear her. When she stopped whining I would say, “Oh where you trying to talk to me, because my ears don’t work when you whine.” This effective discipline technique also worked for screaming and tantrums.

No one said being a parent was going to be easy. Luckily we are all in this together and can share effective discipline techniques with one another. What are some unique ways you have disciplined your child or corrected their behavior?

Top Image Source: fahg.info

Powered by iniret