Punishment

Print out and use this chart to keep a record of your child's time-outs. ...

Six Dubious Discipline Techniques Here are six disciplinary techniques that fall into the category “dubious.” Dubious techniques may have their place, with certain kids, certain families, in certain situations. I present them to you with a l...

Why Spanking Is a Bad Idea Spanking is a mild form of corporal punishment. The American Academy of Pediatrics (as well as many, many child development experts) strongly opposes ever striking a child. Whether or not parents believe in spanking th...

Choose Appropriate Consequences for Misbehavior This part is not for the frail at heart. In fact, choosing appropriate consequences is very difficult for many parents (I know it often baffles me). I'll give you a few approaches here—things to ...

Provide Related, Respectful, and Reasonable Consequences for Misbehavior The 11th element of the Twelve Disciplinary Elements is to provide consequences to the misbehavior that are related, respectful, reasonable, and rewarding—what I call the...

Time-Out GuidelinesDetermine the time-out setting: Safety first As boring as possible Identify one priority misbehavior Use a timer Explain time-out to your child: Time-out is going to improve behavior What time-out is How the time works How the...

Don't punish your child for smoking. ...

Correcting Misbehavior with Time-Out Judy was 22 but looked much older. She had four children, the oldest six years old. She was five months pregnant and had no time for herself. There was fatigue in her voice. Her four-year-old son, Randy, was ...

Stepparenting: How to DisciplineStepparenting: Agreeing on Values Chances are good that the stepparent's first reaction to the spouse's children's discipline is that it has been lax in the past. And probably they're right. Many divorced parents f...

Seven Key Parenting Pitfalls: Traps to Avoid Having unrealistic expectations Relying on punishment alone Sermonizing and dramatizing Punishing without warning Extending punishment too long Failing to give clear directions Establishing too m...

Our expert says that washing a child's mouth out with soap is not discipline; it's cruelty. ...

Effective PunishmentPunishment tells a child what not to do, but it doesn't tell him what to do instead. Let's be honest. You've tried every form of punishment you can think of to get things to change and, so far, how well has it worked? Punishme...

Children will take advantage if they perceive that you're uncomfortable punishing them in front of others. ...

When a child starts playing with matches, it's time to have a calm, serious talk about the rules and consequences of this behavior. ...

When a Child Refuses to Go to Time-OutThe way you manage a child who refuses to go to time-out depends on the age and size of your child. For children up to five or six, it is acceptable to pick them up and put them in time-out. Be careful not to...

Punishing your children by spanking them may only reinforce their negative attitudes. ...

When family rules are made, there should also be consequences set up for breaking them, which the whole family should agree on. ...

Spanking is not a logical consequence for bad grades. There are other types of consequences that are much more appropriate. ...