Many parents still administer corporal punishment to their disobedient offspring. Corporal punishment can take the form of beating them with a ruler, belt, stick or rod. While some countries do have laws against beating children, others are ambivalent feeling that disciplining a child is the private business of parents. While corporal punishment has been banned in schools, when parents do it, there is no one to report them unless it is the spouse or neighbor or the child.

Beating injures the child both physically and emotionally, so it should definitely not be accepted by society at large. There are many cases where children have been taken to hospitals with broken bones or even dangerous head injuries as a result of a severe beating they received at home. Some poor kids have even died from their injuries. While in such extreme cases the parents have been arrested and jailed, what happens when the outward injuries due to beating are minimal while the child is emotionally scarred for life?

Parents have brought a child into the world and they must learn ways of good parenting. So, the debate on how to Discipline a child: Spanking vs. Beating already has one definite answer – beating a child to discipline him or her is not an option. In fact if they do so and are reported, their children should be taken away from them and sent to foster homes. As far as spanking is concerned, some parents do feel that once in a way a spank – gently paddling the bottom with the palm of your hand – is acceptable to enforce a point.

While obviously teenagers or older children cannot be spanked, sometimes reasoning intelligently with a small child may not work. For example, if you took your young child to the supermarket and she ran away from you and across the road, you will be extremely frightened and upset. So, how do you show the child that what she did endangered her life and frightened you? Just explaining that she will get knocked down by a car may not work. In this case, a sharp smack on her bottom could do the trick, for she will feel the pain and associate it with her bad behavior. Chances are this will not be repeated again.

When you do resort to spanking, remember that you reassure your child and tell her that it is her actions that you are punishing and that she is not a bad person. Most modern parents prefer other ways to disciplining their children which are undeniably better that spanking or beating them. Here are some better approaches to disciplining your child:
– Teach good values
– Stay calm
– Watch your tone of voice
– Establish simple and fair rules
– Use words instead of actions
– Negotiate
– Offer rewards not bribes

First teach your child good values – listen and respect parents, be truthful etc. Imbibing these values will make your child more obedient and less likely to break rules. Remember that disciplining them will help them in the long run to be socially responsible human beings. When a child does wrong, it is extremely important to remain calm when you discipline them. Angry parents will lose control and follow a course of action that they will later regret. So, when you are angry do nothing at once but take a ‘time-out’. Send the child to her room and explain you will discuss the matter later.

Use the time to calm yourself and decide on your course of action. The ‘time-out’ could be a form of discipline in itself, for kids want their parent’s attention and know when they have done wrong. With small children a few minutes of time-out is sufficient punishment in itself. Use soft and firm tone of voice rather than being harsh and abusive for this will have a better impact. Establish simple rules that a child will be happy to follow. Do not be domineering and authoritative and expect unfair rules to be followed blindly.

Use firm words to discipline and always remember that both parents must present a united front so that kids won’t play one against the other. Offer rewards like extra TV time for good behavior and try not to offer money as a bribe to behave well. Discuss and negotiate with your child if they really have a problem with your rules rather than hitting them to force them to obey. These few simple rules will mean you have a happy, obedient child and a peaceful home atmosphere.

Author Bio: Article by Kenny Leichester of http://www.patioshoppers.com, a website with the best patio furniture information on the web.

Category: Parenting
Keywords: How to Discipline a child: Spanking Vs. Beating