Alternative Discipline Methods for Parents

In Parenting & Discipline: Spanking or Not?, Vivian Ortecho describes her feelings when dealing with her young toddler. Many new, and not so new, parents struggle with the conflict of discipline on a daily basis. What is the “right” way to discipline? For parents, the answer to this question comes in many forms. What’s your parenting style and did you know that there are many creative ways to discipline that do not involve negative physical contact? While I must admit that my daughter has received a smack on the hand a time or two, I truly advocate the non-physical approach to discipline. Here are a few ideas in alternative discipline.

When parenting, we must remember that these new little people in our lives need direction most of the time. They cannot decipher right from wrong, good from bad, or busy street from empty street; our job as parents forces us to see the world from a toddler’s point of view. This can be frustrating because we want to teach our children, but we still have other duties to attend to as well. Here is a nugget of wisdom that I have learned from those that have come before me: let the child make mistakes while the mistakes are small enough to not cause harm. In other words, allow your child to make the little mistakes while they are young and can learn from them, instead of waiting until they become pre-teens or teenagers and begin to make the big mistakes that cannot be corrected easily. Another good tactic is to allow children to make choices through out the day, like what clothes to wear or whether to wear a coat or just bring it along. They'll feel like they have some control, and so will you.

There are many books that are helpful in discovering new ideas regarding the parenting process. Discipline Without Shouting or Spanking offers many ways to deal with specific discipline issues. The text was revised and in the new edition, published in 2002, there is insight offered regarding the “learned nature of violence”, among other issues parents are dealing with today. This book and the following set of books can all be found in your local library.