5 Discipline Don’ts

Raise well-behaved children by staying consistent about discipline. Keep the following “discipline don’ts” in mind to prevent serious problems as your children get older.

Discipline Don’t #1: Yelling

Avoid screaming and yelling at your kids. All this does is let them know it’s okay for them to “go insane” when they are mad too.

Discipline Don’t #2: Make Empty Threats

Refrain from making empty threats if you want your children to take you seriously. Never following through on punishment tells children that you do not mean what you say and that they can continue to do what they are doing without worrying about repercussions. If you are going to punish your kids, such as suspending them from the television or their phones for a week, stick with it.

Discipline Don’t #3: Disagree With Your Partner In Front Of The Kids

Never, ever disagree with your partner in front of the children. Openly disagreeing with your partner in front of the younglings undermines the person’s authority as well as your own.

Discipline Don’t #4: Bribe Them

Do not bribe your kids to get them to behave–it will work one time, and that is it. If you continue to bribe them when they are “behaving badly” they will expect a reward every time they act out. Is that a message you want to send? Heck no!

Discipline Don’t #5: Spank Your Children

Avoid physical punishment when disciplining your children. Research shows that spanking and other forms of physical punishment do not help children behave. What it does do is make them angry and aggressive. They will grow up fearing you…and will likely be loathe to spend time with you when they are older. Look for more reasonable, rational forms of discipline instead.

Learn to discipline your children in healthy ways! They will respect you for it in the end.