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This guide will help parents learn about discipline and punishment for children in all age categories from toddler to teenager. Here, we’ll share ideas and tips to understand your kids before you resort to punishing them.
Parenting has evolved 🦕 since most of us were children. 👩🏻👧🏻👦🏻 No longer are the days of 🚫 “spanking” 🚫 an acceptable form of discipline or punishment — not only was it ineffective, but it was also frightening and we’re glad it isn't an option anymore. 😌
So the question arises, 🤔 how do you discipline a child for bad behaviour? 🧠
There are many different ways to discipline your child but we think we should share a few suggestions before we get to the punishment. 👎
Establish Boundaries ❌ ✔️
Children need boundaries, structure, and rules. 📋
As a parent, you need to make sure that your child or children know and understand what the expectations are regarding the rules.
The expectations of your children should always be age-appropriate. ✅
Praise Good Behaviour 🌟
Let’s not focus on the negative. 😊
You want to be sure you let your child know that you are watching and that you appreciate their great behaviour. 👍
Praise encourages children to do the right thing and makes them want to continue doing so. 🙌
Children Are Unique ❄️
Not all children are the same, and siblings shouldn’t be compared. 👩👧👧 Every single child is different and therefore punishment is not one size fits all. Toddler discipline is different from school-aged, pre-teen, and teen — so, expectations during those times cannot be universal, they have to be different. 👦🏻 👧🏿 👦🏾 👧🏻 👦🏿 👧🏼
The Why’s of Misbehaviour ❓
Before you get to the punishment, ask yourself a question first: is my child...
Hungry 🍽️
Sleepy 😴
Overstimulated 🤯
Bored 🥱
Rushed 💨
If you are able to answer yes to any of these options, you can address the issue and correct the behaviour. 💯
Now that you have crossed off all these preemptive punishment options, let's move on to addressing the types of discipline for misbehaving children. ❌
🙅♂️ Discipline does not mean that you have to yell. 🙅♂️ We recommend that you do not yell because that will cause a child to experience fear and they are no longer open to listening or understanding. More severe punishment doesn’t equate to more effective. 🙅♂️
If you find that your child may be frustrated because of school ⁉️ and not quite understanding the homework, we have tutors available online to assist your child achieve the confidence 🚀 needed to eliminate some of their frustration with school. ✅
Toddler Discipline 👶
The best discipline for a toddler is a time-out. ⏱️ Children at this age may need to be removed from a situation because of overstimulation and excitement. 🤪
Throwing a building block across the room out of frustration may warrant a need for a timeout so they can chill out a bit. 🧊 Time-out should be estimated by age — 2 minutes for a 2 year, 3 minutes for a 3-year-old, etc.
School Age 🚸
At this age, kids know what they should be doing but are led astray sometimes because they make the wrong choices. 🙅♀️ If you find out your child isn’t doing their homework, punishment can be to take away their devices (video games, tablets). ❎ We also recommend you sit and talk with your child about what’s been going on.
Are they struggling because they are distracted, or is it possible that they need a tutor to support their learning process? If you find that your child is struggling because they need a tutor we are here to help, we have many tutors ready to assist you and your child. ✅
Pre-teen 📵
All things are debatable with your preteen. ↔️
But, when it comes to following rules of the house, like “no back talk”, you may find you’re coming up with forms of discipline a bit more often. ⛔
A bit of frustration also comes from the inevitable hormonal change the children are going through and sometimes their outbursts are a reflection of puberty. 💡
We suggest that a punishment can be the loss of social media usage for a few days. 📴
This punishment should come after one warning about the misbehaviour as a reminder that there are consequences for disrespect. 🥺
Teen 🚗
The teenage years, almost adults but not quite there. 🤏
This age is a bit challenging because you have moved from taking away a device or social media to taking away privileges such as curfew or borrowing the car. 🕰️
During these years teenagers are not only trying to gain independence – they are testing their boundaries, and yours too.
Communication is key. 🗝️ Try to understand why they made their choices and remind them that they can always talk to you even if they made a mistake. 🥰
Parenting doesn’t come with a handbook 📖 – we all learn as we go along.
Here at GoStudent, we offer services to help you and your child navigate 🧭 the uncertainties that may arise in school that can sometimes lead to frustration.
Let us be a part of the solution, and book a free trial class and let's see if we can get rid of some of that frustration for both you and your kids, so you don’t have to look for ways to discipline them. 😀
