Alternatives to Spanking Your Child and Tips on Rewarding Them

First, let me start by saying that I think spanking children is very wrong. However, I acknowledge that different people have differing opinions. Therefore, I am not going to lecture about right and wrong. Rather I am going to give a little background and a few alternative disciplinary methods to be considered as well as a few tips on rewards.

When I was a child, spanking never worked. My step dad's excuse to everything was the belt. I wasn't a rotten child or anything like that, just your average kid, exploring her world and learning her boundaries. My step brother, on the other hand, loved to lie through his teeth and cause trouble. I admit I did lie some, but nowhere near to the point of Eric. It got to the point where even I was being spanked when I had done nothing. My parents either assumed I was in league with Eric or that I was lying when I was genuinely telling the truth. For this reason, the belt made no difference to me except to cause pain, and definitely was not a source of discipline. Even if it had worked, my parents used several other methods that were effective, and I have expanded upon those things to make my own plan for disciplining my children when I have them. The thing to remember is that all children are different and some of these methods may not work with every child. Get to know your children and you will learn what is most effective for each of them.

The first alternative method of discipline is one my parents used on me, and oddly enough it was rather effective. Sometimes, when I had done something wrong, I would be made to stand in the corner with my nose at the wall until they said I could move. This was rather effective since, as a child, I had a short attention span and was eager to get on to better things. Since I didn't know when they would give the okay, I just had to stand there in anticipation. It doesn't sound like much of a punishment but believe me, it was effective. My step brother would always cheat and try to move his nose from the corner when he thought they weren't looking, but nine times out of ten they caught him and extended his time there, while I got to go free.