Child Discipline Essay

Discipline

Discipline is the process of teaching the child what type of behavior is acceptable and what type is not acceptable, it teaches a child to follow rules. Discipline may involve both punishment, such as a time out, and, more importantly, rewards. It sounds so straightforward, yet every parent becomes frustrated at one time or another with issues surrounding children and discipline.

Every parent wants their children to be happy, respectful, respected by others, and able to find their place in the world as well–behaved adults. Nobody wants to be accused of raising a spoiled brat. Our responsibility as a parent is to help our child become self–reliant, respectful, and self–controlled. Relatives, schools, churches, therapists,...show more content...

But our goal should not be to turn him into someone he is not.

As my children grew and began to understand the connection between actions and consequences, I started communicating the rules of our family's home, explained what I expect of them.

Even when disciplining my children I show respect – they are more likely to respect me, other family members, and other people in their life. If I "lose it" or overreact with disrespect, I apologize. Actually I behave the way I want them to behave.

For instance, the first time my 3–year–old son used pencil to decorate the bedroom wall, I discussed why that's not allowed and what will happen if he will do it again – he will have to help clean the wall and will not be able to use the pencils for the rest of the day. I explained also that pencils are for paper only and not for wall.

In other words I establish this kind of "I set the rules and you're expected to listen or accept the consequences" standard. Consistency is the key to effective discipline, and it's important to decide what the rules are and then uphold them. Timeouts also can work well for kids at this age, however I didn't give them timeouts.

I always reward good behaviors. I know how positive effect my praise can have – discipline is not just about punishment but also about recognizing good behavior.

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Child Discipline

Forms of Discipline: What is best for the child? Children are like flowers, if well taken care of they will bloom. If ignored or tortured, they will wither and die. Child discipline is one of the most important elements of successful parenting. Today, many people have this notion that physical abuse is in no way a solution to helping children discern between right and wrong. Since generations children have been taught the art of discipline through physical punishment. Often this approach to disciplining has resulted in two outcomes, one is where the child becomes more tolerant and is willing to adhere to what he/she has been told, or the other which more often results in children developing a sense of anguish and desire to revolt....show more content... Today, there is a common misconception that spanking is a form of child abuse. Some parents are actually afraid to discipline their own children using the same method used for their own upbringing. Who is correct in the notion of right and wrong discipline? Is there such a thing as a correct way to spank your child? In my opinion, there is. So, my objective is to show that there is a fine line between the two terms Spanking and Child abuse. A Cambridge Dictionary states that Child Abuse occurs "when adults intentionally treat children in a cruel or violent way." On the other hand, Spanking in the same dictionary means "to hit a child with the hand, usually several times on the bottom as a punishment." In this way, the line between the two can be drawn where too much spanking results in bruises and scars on the child. Therefore, parents should not spank their children when they are angry themselves as the spank would turn out to be an unintentional smack. When this occurs, parents tend to accidently take out their frustration on the child. Primarily, this is when Spanking, a form of discipline, starts drifting towards the entire concept of 'child abuse'.

However, this misconception has led to many unwanted situations where parents have been sent to jail by their own children. In a general

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Children in today's society seems to be more "out of control" than prior generations. Is this due to lack of discipline? For generations children were spanked, had their mouths smacked when back talking, or other various forms of discipline that today would be viewed as child abuse. With today's generation, when spanking, if a mark is left on that child for longer than 24 hours, it is considered child abuse. How did society, who once thought spanking was okay, go to not seeing eye to eye? Through many years of research, psychologist are beginning to see that spanking or being aggressive with children has long term effects on those children. What exactly is considered child discipline? It is the set of rules, rewards and punishments used...show more content...

Dr. Thomas Phelan, a registered clinical psychologist has been working in the field for over 40 years. He has written numerous books that help parents learn key ways to discipline their children. His book series "1–2–3 Magic" is very popular and has helped millions of parents reach out and be able to help parents encourage positive behavior in their children without the use of spanking. Dr. Phelan talks about how to break the cycle so many parents use. The cycle he talks about is "Talk–Persuade–Argue–Yell–Hit." (Phelan 1) This cycle only teaches the child that it is okay to yell and hit.

All too often we see children with tempers. Many times these tempers seem to stem from their home life. Parents use physical discipline /punishment to get through to their child and all that does is teach them that being aggressive and physical is okay. They end up getting into a scuff with another child at school and begin yelling and then hit the child. Some children have been known to be choked, even in pre–school. These are the cases where the child's behavior can easily be tied to the environment in which they live. Where else would they learn to become that aggressive?

Aggressive behavior as a child leads to advanced aggression as an adolescent and causes juveniles to start causing problems within society. Studies have been done with different groups of parents. "The Abusive profile applied to families who reported at least one severe assault on

Discipline in Childhood Essay

Discipline in Childhood

Children require freedom to grow and to learn, but they will not thrive on unlimited freedom. The aim of discipline is to set reasonable limits which protect children from harm and teach them what is safe and what is not. If children are to grow up into responsible, conscientious, and dependable adults, they must learn the social, moral, and ethical standards that are considered acceptable in our society. They must also learn to respect the rights and property of others.

Children brought up without discipline may become selfish, greedy, dishonest, unpopular, uncooperative and insecure. Undisciplined children constantly demand attention. They may be inconsiderate or...show more content...

* Do not subject your child to excessive physical punishment.

* You should make as few rules as necessary and make them simple to understand.

* You should be a good role model for your child.

Children who are often in trouble usually suffer from too little affection, rather than too little punishment. The responsibility for startingthe child in the right way belongs to the parents. Parents must serve as good examples for their children. Attitudes and behaviors of the children can be expected to be no better than those of the parents.

Children learn best from repetition, practice, and example; lecturing is less effective. The age at which punishment is appropriate depends on the intelligence and maturity of the child. Punishment, when required, should be immediate and inevitable. The penalty should be specified in advance and should be adhered to strictly. The form of punishment should be appropriate to the seriousness of the misbehavior and to the child's age. After a child has been punished, it is important to reassure the child that he or she is still loved and a valued member of the family and that the transgression has been forgiven.

Rules should be as few and clear as possible, but they should be strictly and consistently enforced. Rules must be appropriate to the Get

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Child Discipline

Anton Shusterman June 4th, 2011 Child Discipline The most important thing in a child's life is how his parents treat him. His future and the potential for growth and success are determined by the type of childhood that a person experiences. Sometimes parents don't understand how important it is to treat their children well. Parents don't think about the words that they say to their children or the actions that they take around them. Some parents think their children are too small and they will not remember the words and actions going on around them, but discipline is not only showing children how to live life and what not to do in any given situation. Discipline is also showing children what they are supposed to do and how they are...show more content...

The common assumption is that children need to be disciplined and instilled with fear to be properly behaved. Children are naturally rowdy, hyperactive, and troublemakers. Beating can cause depression and aggression in children as young as eight (Rodriquez 731). These children, having experienced beating and harsh physical punishment in response to a mistake or problem that they cause, in turn cause pain and beat other children in response to problems or wrongdoings caused by the children that are bothering them, thus channeling their anger at being beaten into the object of their frustration. (Zens et al. 192) Harsh discipline is not only beating or physical abuse, it is defined as "the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain, but not injury, for the purpose of correction or control of the child behaviors" (Straus, 2000 p.1110)" (Rodriquez 734)This lends credence to the belief that sometimes parents don't know when they are exerting far too much physical discipline on their children. Parents believe that some physical punishment is necessary and it will not cause adverse effect to children in the future, but that is not the case. In fact harsh discipline, specifically physical punishment, can lead to internalizing of problems and also a possibility of the physical abused children their anger on other younger children. (Zens et al. 190)

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Discipline Child Abuse

There is no disciplinary handbook when it comes to how someone should parent their child.There will be issues that arise throughout the child's life that will need different levels of discipline. However, there is a right and a wrong way to handle these misbehaviors. "Parents must help their defiant children be successful" (Petrakis 147). For many parents finding the proper way to deal with their child's behavior can be stressful and result in anger. According to Jody Pawel, a licensed social worker, discipline should have a focus on helping a child learn from their mistakes (Pawel). Child abuse is defined as the "physical maltreatment" of a child ("Child Abuse"). In other words child abuse is what we refer to when discipline has gotten out of control, or reached a toxic level. The majority of parents may not see their verbal warnings, guilt trips, timeouts, loss of privileges, name calling, spanking, belt hitting, first hitting, burning,sexual misconduct, abandonment, or broken bones as a major issue. However, there is a point to whenchild discipline becomes child abuse. There is a fine line not only between discipline and physical abuse,but also discipline and emotional child abuse. When it comes to emotional abuse the line is drawn when verbal warnings,cursing, or guilt trips result in a child feeling a sense of self doubt. When it comes to discipline and physical abuse the line is drawn when any amount of physical pain is inflicted on a child who is in an

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Discipline can become a challenge for parents today and choosing the right method is something that parents should take very seriously. Physical punishment is one form of discipline that parents employ. In fact, most parents believe that physical punishment is an acceptable form of discipline ("The National Child Traumatic Stress Network" 1). On the other hand, there may be some people who oppose physical punishment but is this a good decision to make? In order for parents to make this decision, examining whether this is the best way to discipline a child and their welfare needs to be done. It is important to know when it is appropriate and to what extent physical punishment should be used. Some parents may not realize but the way a child...show more content...

And to recognize these side effects is important in order to evaluate whether physical punishment is effective for children. Another factor to look at is to gain knowledge of children's views on how they are disciplined by their parents. A study done on children's view on physical punishment found out that "parents were inconsistent when delivering family discipline" (Dobbs et al 142). The children felt "inconsistent application of discipline among siblings ... depending on age or gender" (Dobbs et al 142). For example, if one child gets disciplined for something and the other child doesn't, then the child who gets punished will feel less favored and create more problems. Inconsistency in discipline can confuse the child to know the parent's expectations. The children also said that parents expect older children to "'know better'" and there were differences in how boys were punished because parents believe boys are stronger than girls (Dobbs et al 143). This is another example of inconsistent discipline. Parents need to treat their children equally regardless if they are a boy or girl, the discipline should be the same for all. This is one action that parents need to be conscious of because the children do notice them. Children mentioned that parents could be more lenient in some cases such as if there was only one child at home, having visitors or if the parents was in a good mood (Dobbs et al 143).

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In today's society many people believe spanking children and physically punishing them is a good way to discipline. I believe there are many more effective ways to discipline a child.

Why do people spank their children? People believe spanking causes pain and fear that you learn from. For example if I was running by a pool and the ground was wet and I happened to slip and fall, I would get hurt and I would be afraid to fall again, so I would learn to be more cautious and walk the second time I went by. With spankings children learn through that fear and pain to no longer repeat the certain action. Spanking can also let the child know the difference between good and bad. Knowing the difference can help them become better people by...show more content...

There are many negative effects to spanking, even beyond the physical hurt and mortification, there is long–lasting emotional pain. Spanking has been linked to low self esteem, depression, masochism, and even psychological distress.

Most smokers never develop cancer, most drunk drivers don't get into wrecks, and most children who grow up in homes with lead paint do not suffer brain damage. No intelligent adult would seriously support smoking, drunk driving, or using lead–based paint to decorate their walls. So why are adults supporting using physical force against a child?

Ask yourself is spanking children the only effective way to discipline a child? For example in math, there are many ways to solve a problem that get you to the right answer. We all want the same thing a well mannered, well behaved, polite child. Rather than spanking another form of punishment is a time out. If you choose to put the child in a time out he child should be in time out one minute for each year old they are. If they are 6 years old they would be in time out for 6 minutes. Sometimes the child might be doing something dangerous such as trying to touch the stove, instead of smacking them, you need to get down to eye level and explain to them why it is not okay to touch the stove and explain why you are upset with their behavior. You can also trade toys for things they shouldn't be holding such as