Throwing The Book
When a child commits a misdemeanor in your home, do you resort to using the same punishment every time, or do you tailor it to fit the crime? Do you skip the “punishment” in favor of a lecture lesson?
My son made the mistake of writing on the wall, yesterday. It was pretty obvious who did it. Yet, the guilty party was reluctant to admit his guilt. After he confessed, his dad and I convened in the bedroom to choose the appropriate sentence. In this case, it was the chore of washing walls and a talk about the importance of truth. We try to stop and consider our options and the nature of the crime, before selecting an appropriate corrective action. It doesn’t always happen that way, of course, but we do try. I think after ten minutes and two very achy arms, my son had learned his lesson. Only time will tell, but I don’t think he will soon forget how boring it was to scrub walls while his siblings were outside playing football.
Does the range of disciplinary action change as your kids enter the teen years? I’m just asking because we haven’t reached puberty in our house yet, and I’d like to be as prepared as possible. Gayla seemed to do the right thing, in the case of the overzealous text messaging teens. I would have done the same. My husband would have taken the phones and smashed them with a sledge hammer, not as a lesson, but out of sheer anger. It would have cost us in the long run, when we had to buy new phones, but it is his natural reaction to stuff like that. I can’t tell you how many toys have been broken and thrown away, as the result of a fight over possession!
Since we don’t have the money to buy new phones every time the bill comes, I’m thinking that we need to devise a plan ahead of time. Sound off on your preffered methods of corrective action (aka punishment) in the comment section.
Tags: behavior, children, crime, discipline, Parenting, punishment, TeensRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Classic Parent Moments, Parenting Discussion
2 opinions for Throwing The Book
Kskott
May 15, 2008 at 3:19 am
Looking back on the mistakes I made as a child, the ones I remember best were the ones where I was thoroughly informed of why my actions were unsatisfactory. Granted I still remember quite a few well-repeated punishments, but I cannot recall WHY I was being punished. It was through applying “punishments” to important lessons that I remembered why bad things were, well bad. I know things were confiscated, television viewing rights were revoked, and the like, but I cannot tell you whether it was for not doing homework or talking back, staying up late or not cleaning. I DO remember why throwing things inside was punishable because of the many glass objects that my mom made sure to point out when scolding me. I remember why homework was important to complete because my mom related my schoolwork to her own. Through creating a learning experience out of my bad behaviors my mother showed me respect while maintaining stability in the household.
kadi
May 15, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Great viewpoint! Thanks for sharing!!
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