Practical Parent Guide: Discipline
Can harsh discipline do more harm than good?
Recent studies suggest that low-income parents tend to enforce much harsher discipline, partly because they hold stronger beliefs about the value of spanking and experience higher levels of stress.
However, parents who work in high-stress jobs or are stay-at-home parents who are feeling frustrated or isolated are also at risk. It’s imperative that parents recognize their tendency to punish a child too severely and take the necessary steps toensure the punishment is appropriate for their child’s age, temperament and maturity level.
The study’s finding indicated that parents from lower income levels or work high pressure jobs are more stressed, and they react more emotionally to their child’s behavior, and thus use harsher discipline. A parent in this situation may benefit from external assistance and learning about alternative disciplinary strategies that are more appropriate and less harsh.
It’s also essential for a parent to realize that kids thrive on praise. Parents in such a situation may always jump to discipline but fail to praise their child for their good deeds, behaviors and traits. Kids instinctively want to please their parents and make them proud. By encouraging positive behavior, the parent will most likely discourage the behavior that has driven them in the past to punish too harshly.
In order to encourage positive behavior deserving of praise, parents might want to think about giving their child a task they know they’re able to achieve, and praise their efforts along the way.
Parents need to alsomust consistently praise their children for the positive traits they possess. Their child might be good at maths in school, helpful to their little brother or sister, or is good at art. Praise these good traits and the child is likely to respond by acting appropriately and behaving positively in order to gain more praise.
In the end, it’s essential to remember that a child is just that - a child. A parent should make a concerted effort to ensure the discipline is appropriate and take care of themselves physically, mentally and emotionally so they can optimally provide for their child’s emotional and physical well-being.
Sharing a hobby or interest with your child is a great way to develop a closer bond. Face painting just might be the right one for you. Find out more
Kids face painting
Face paintings
Tags: Parenting
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