There was this

mother

who was very happy because she thought she had disciplined her child well. She made sure her boy was followed everywhere he went by the nanny. Her child was pampered with all the good things and she paid for a private tutor to take care of all her son’s homework. She never allowed her son to make mistakes because according to her, mistakes could become habits in the future. Her son made good grades and did well in school. He was obedient and listened carefully to every word that his mother said and he made sure he did not commit mistakes. His life became robotic and boring. His life was a series of do this and do that according to the dictates of his mother.

It was only when the young boy was in second year high school when his grades failed. Her mother found out that her son joined a gang of juvenile delinquents and joined their activities.  The mother asked, "What went wrong?

Yes, What went wrong? The boy was caged and forced to do everything and he hated everything so his revenge was joining the gang to express his feelings.

Sometimes parents think that disciplining a child is feeding him all the good things and lecturing him about the do this and do that. Parents often forget that kids have also a life of their own, in that they need a space to live and have fun in order to have a healthy growth and development. Disciplining the child needs careful assessment and consideration in that there are sensible and not sensible ways of disciplining the child. If you want to really discipline your child the proper way, it must be in a sensible way.

Here are some guides to sensible discipline for children:

Set your child free

Your child is not a robot. You cannot hold the switch and let your child move and talk according to your wishes. Your child needs a space that is enough for him to move around ,, do what he wants and learn by himself.

Be there for your child

You can set your child free but always be there to guide him if he needs someone. Do not leave him alone because he might hurt himself. If you see your child doing something wrong, correct him on the spot. Do not be afraid to say no when your child is misbehaving. If he cries, let him cry then later explain to him why you got mad or you spanked him.

Do not nag, rant or shout

Children will not listen to you the next time if you keep shouting and ranting. The best way to discipline a child is to talk to him properly. You don’t need to shout or raise your voice if you can talk to your child in a kind voice. Kids who listen to their parents because of fear aren’t disciplined; they obey and listen out of fear which is not healthy for them.

Do not punish severely

Punishment is good in disciplining your child but not to the extent of hitting him so hard. You can use punishment for severe cases but not physical punishment. The disadvantage of applying physical punishments to kids is that they will develop a feeling of resentment to their parents. Physical punishment is not as effective as these suggestions below.

Here are some punishments that you can use for your kids:

1. No TV for a week.

2. No computer for a week.

3. Doing errands.

4. No allowance.

5. No toys.

6. No visits to friends.

7. No cell phone.

Punishments can be of any kind except physical kinds of punishment that could hurt the child and affect him psychologically but may not be effective.

Incentives

You can use incentives to discipline your child. Use of incentives to discipline the child could be good but do not use it to bribe your child every time he refuses to do something. Use incentives as a reward for a job well done but not as an instrument for the child to obey you.

Proper communication

Proper communication with your child will make your child listen, obey and do things properly. If you show your child that he cannot be smarter than you, he will know his proper place.

Disciplining a child maybe a hard task but if you start early and do it properly, you will find out that it is not so hard to do.