How To Discipline Your Child

Article by Gracen Glamour

Children bombard parents with many challenging behaviors. We are delighted if their behavior is mostly positive. But what if your child constantly demonstrates negative behavior? How are you going to deal with it?

Discipline for the majority of the twentieth century was adult-centered and relied heavily on punishment as a way of keeping children on the right track. Discipline was based on the principle of severity and terms such as punishment, obedience and compliance were commonly used.

Often I hear parents say that they spank or yell at their kids. This is not because these parents do not care for their children but because they really don’t know any different. If you look at the world today, what do you see as socially more “acceptable”; yelling at a child doing something “bad”, or creating a “yes” environment for that same child? The first of course, it’s the way it’s “always” been done, right?

Second, is there anything else going on in your child’s life that might be causing stress or is there anything else going on in your life that might be causing stress to your child? Children are creatures of habit. While they enjoy the new they also crave routine.

If he still refuses to follow the instruction, the parent follows up by saying, “That’s two.” At this point it would probably be a good idea to once again repeat the previous directions. If the child stops the inappropriate behavior and follows the instruction, then the problem has been solved. If the child still refuses to follow instructions than the parents simply states “That’s three,” and follows with the consequence stated at the start of the counting.

Parents need to acknowledge and provide positive responses every time a child follows the rules by giving some form of encouragement or reward. Otherwise, the child should be informed of the consequences for breaking the established rules. Children learn from experience, and it is therefore necessary to let them experience the consequences rather than submerge them into punishment. Most parents confuse parenting discipline with punishment, but it should not be the case. Instead, mistakes can be a turned into a venue for learning.

Be careful when using threats. You tend to say things you do not mean when you get angry. Too many threats will effect your child behavior too. They will learn from you and use your words to threat other people thus leads to bad manner.

We need to obviate the reliance on this method quickly, especially as one sensible alternative exists. Some experts have suggested that natural consequences be applied to correct action. For example, if your child breaks your favorite dish, it is better that the child is punished by having to sacrifice his weekly allowance or do extra chores as a consequence.

This seems to be one of the most overlooked methods of discipline but yet the very word discipline means instruction or teaching and the most effective way to teach or instruct is to open dialogue between you and your child. Speak with them and decipher the reasons behind their behavior.

For an easy step-by-step plan to build your relationship with your child and end your child’s difficult behavior forever,

For children 2-11 go to

Child Behavior Help

For teens 12 and older go to

Teen Behavior Help

For more information on how to handle your ODD child or teen:



If your child is 2-11 go to:

The ODD Child Program

If your child is 12 and older go to:

The ODD Teen Program

Single Parent Families and Child Abuse – the Best Way to Prevent It

Article by Will Barnes

Parenting runs along two continuums: abusive and nurturing. One can equate higher incidence of nurturing with less incidence of abuse because the two behaviors are mutually exclusive. In nurturing single parent families, children receive support, have clear boundaries, and live under appropriate expectations. In abusive single parent families, too much may be expected from the children. Empathy for the children is lacking, physical punishment is prominent, and lack of awareness of the children’s developmental levels is evident.

It is clear, however, that many single parents who become involved in the child welfare system did not intentionally harm their children; rather their lack of knowledge, skills, or resources led them to harm their children.

The best way to then to prevent child abuse is to help single parents, through effective parent training, to develop their skills and identify resources they need to understand and meet their children’s needs and protect them from harm.

Moreover, research has shown that increasing positive parent interactions and emotional communications; and, requiring parents to practice new skills during and away from the training provides for the intended outcome of improving parenting skills and decreasing the children’s externalizing behaviors. Furthermore, the long range consequence of child abuse is that children who experience such maltreatment are at greater risk for adverse health effects and risky health behaviors when they reach adulthood.

Some worthwhile goals for an effective parent training program then should include: helping parents to learn ways to discipline their children other than by yelling and hitting, such as redirection (trying to shift a child’s attention from something dangerous, such as jumping off a chair to something harmless, such as doing a puzzle.); helping parents learn to teach their children how to control their anger as well as to manage their own angry feelings and stress; helping parents to learn stages of child development and to acquire realistic expectations; making available to parents in-home one on one parent coaching and support groups, and finally, helping parents to learn job hunting and life management strategies. In addition, the program should have a problem-solving focus, provide for active participation, involve the whole family, and target individually identified needs.

Several different types of parent training exist, such as models designed for parents who just want additional information to be sure they are doing the best job they can, and models that address specific needs, such as families experiencing child behavior problems or families in which child maltreatment is a concern. The program described above emphasizes the latter.

About the Author

Consultant and Therapist Will Barnes has counseled thousands of individuals and families over the past thirty-eight years. Visit http://www.yourconsultantsite.com for free personal growth and parenting articles. Also if you are a single parent, visit the can’t miss site designed specifically for single parents

Parenting Assessments By Therapists May Help Parents To Understand Their Children’s Behavior

Article by Ann Marier

Genesis II for Families is able to provide assessment of parenting competence as well as quality of the relationship between parent and child. The objective of parenting assessment is to make timely as well as appropriate recommendations concerning the permanency of child and family preservation. To evaluate parenting, Genesis II for Families makes use of many different information sources.

The different information sources used include family of origin interview, family of creation interview, parent-child observation sessions, if appropriate, interview of the child, standardized parenting vignettes, assessment checklists and inventories as well as other collateral information.

Factors Contributing to Current Parenting Practices

The parenting assessment tools help in understanding factors that contribute to current parenting practices, beliefs as well as skills. It includes parental empathy towards the child as well as child behavior perceptions and expectations of the child. Normally, this form of parental assessment can be finished in three to four sessions with each session being of one and a half hours duration. The assessment is performed by master level professionals who have clinical experience in working with troubled families.

There are other parenting assessments such as the St. Luke’s Parenting Assessment and Skills Development Service that believe that children have the right to long term well-being, and children will be unable to develop successfully unless they are given adequate standard of care. Parents always wish the best for their children and strive to give them appropriate care; however, there are also parents in need of assistance, which if not provided, will lead to unsafe behaviors that will require Child Protection involvement.

In any case, parental assessment is all about gathering information from many different sources concerning the needs of the children, the ability of parents to meet such needs, and the skills as well as strengths of the parent. Such information is subjected to analysis in order to present recommendations based on the best interests of the child.

The need for parenting assessment arises out of therapists or lawyers needing to understand the manner in which someone approaches parenting and also helps takes stock of the strengths and weaknesses of such person(s). There are many instances where problems relating to a parent’s behavior or problems between child and parent need to be addressed so that a decision on behalf of the child can be taken. Parenting assessment is of help to lawyers, Children’s Aid Societies as well as community agencies in deciding what is best for both child and parent. All information gathered will then be submitted to the courts or lawyers or other concerned persons in the form of a written report.

About the Author

Ann Merier writes articles about the family. Article topics include diabetes,detox diet,yoga,pilates exerciseParenting AssessmentsQuit Smoking

How To Correct Behavior In A Problem Child

by Robert William Locke

Who is control? I know lots of families where the kids command and continually demand. Parents are often told what to do and some even walk on eggshells round their children. Anything for a quiet life and anything to avoid a meltdown. There are other ways you can avoid an ODD tantrum, but giving into the child is not the way to do it. This is the worst thing you could possibly do!

Once the child learns how to manipulate you and sees that defiant behavior works, then you are lost. You may never get that control back again.

Establishing why the child behaves or reacts in a certain way is always useful (in a calmer moment!). With the child you need to go through what happened, how he felt and what his reaction was. You could suggest other ways he could react the next time this happens. Learning about these strategies is easy with behavior therapy.

Is this you? You are dreading going home because you know as soon as you get in that door, your defiant child or defiant teen is waiting to pick a fight and might get aggressive, mouthy and violent if he does not get what he wants.

One way to stop the immediate attack is to establish a routine whereby you have time to recharge and relax as soon as you go home. Set it up so that your children know that you are not going to talk to anyone in the house until you do that. Unwinding is really important because it also gives kids time to adjust when they come home too. This rule applies to both parents and kids so parents will not nag their offspring as soon as they get in the door.

This is not going to solve problem child behavior but it is a good first step. You are establishing a routine and that can be useful in giving structure to family life. This is just one of the techniques you will learn if you decide to take advantage of a behavior modification program.

If you want to know more about how to stop arguments and tantrums in public, click on one of the links below.

For an easy step-by-step plan to build your relationship with your child and end your child’s difficult behavior forever,

For children 2-11 go to

Child Behavior Help

For teens 12 and older go to

Teen Behavior Help

For more information on how to handle your ODD child or teen:



If your child is 2-11 go to:

The ODD Child Program

If your child is 12 and older go to:

The ODD Teen Program

Want to learn how I got back my happy family? Discover a whole new world in a behavior modification course . Robert Locke is a Health enthusiast who specializes in Children’s Health. He has written extensively on ADHD and Behavior Therapy.

How to Control Your Child’s Aggressive Behavior

Article by Alexandra Armstrong

Are you experiencing aggressive behavior in your young child? Is your defiant child calling all the shots? Do you feel exhausted and just don’t know what else to do?

If your answer is yes, and I bet it is… As you continue reading this article, you will learn how to end the power struggles, the aggressiveness and gain back control over aggressive and defiant child behavior.

Many young children are not able recognize their own strength or even the full consequences of their actions; and in a world where they are often being told what to do, where to go and how to behave, it does not seem all that unreasonable that an aggressive and defiant child may sometimes need to speak out and be heard.

-As you may already know, controlling feelings and emotions is a learned skill and can be very difficult to master in some adults, let alone children.

For whatever reason your difficult aggressive child throws an outburst, one thing to always keep in mind is to not interact with power and anger of any sort or you will end up with a child that is very defensive and will fight whatever you ask him not to do.

-The good news is there are better ways to deal with this kind of aggressiveness that can create a win-win situation for both of you using proper child management methods. Nagging or punishing children for acting aggressively can make it more likely that they will act that way in the future. Imagine, if you will, a 3 yr old quietly piecing a puzzle together or even playing a video game. She/he has almost completed the puzzle/game but cannot get the final pieces/play to come together.

-Throughout this quiet half an hour the parent has been around but has said absolutely nothing. Nothing, that is until the child becomes obviously frustrated and throws the puzzle/game across the room and begins screaming or swearing loudly. At this point the parent intervenes by reprimanding the child and sending him/her to their room. You know where I am going with this right?

-It would appear that the parent has done everything appropriate in this situation, except for the fact that the only attention this child received during the time period was negative. If this is commonly the case, the child may begin to feel that any attention is better than no attention and as a result may continue to act out disruptively in daily activities.

-When dealing with aggressive children, it is worth the effort to praise even the smallest attempt at proper behavior, while paying very little if any attention to negative conduct. Praise can be a very strong motivator.

Research shows that aggressive and angry children are very likely to grow up as problematic teenagers and adults.

And trust me; no parents would want that for their children. Let me show you how you can control your 3-year-old aggressive behavior by following 3 simple proven methods at http://www.goodparentingreviews.com.

About the Author

Alexandra Armstrong is a mom who has helped several parents and closest friends raise well mannered, well behaved happy kids simply by sharing techniques that she used on her own children and the experience that she has working with others.

Your encounter with Alexandra will leave you feeling inspired, motivated which help you know that you are not alone with facing many challenges in raising children.