Like anything these days, anybody and everybody has something to say about the way you raise your kids. There are websites, blogs, television shows, magazine articles, and therapists that are all overflowing with information on the best way to keep your kids in line. They try to tell you what’s healthy, what’s not, what will leave long-term emotional scares, and what will cause your kid to rebel in the future. But with all of the parenting ideologies rustling around your world, its important to hold true to you. It is important that each individual family holds onto their own values, despite all of your surroundings pointing to alternative methods.
Of all parenting insight, what methods tend to be the most controversial and what is the best route to take on those controversial methods? Below you will find the top two methods that people are sure to have an opinion about.
1 - Corporal Punishment Methods - Spanking is the most widely used version of corporal punishment and is one of the most praised and one of the most frowned upon depending on who you talk to. There are many people who believe a good spanking will set your child right and scare them just enough to prevent them from breaking the same, or similar, rule in the future. Many people who spank their children won’t do it in a way that will cause serious harm, but there are people who say even that is crossing the line. The people who believe spanking, or hitting, a child is a means to teach them a lesson teaches them nothing further than the message ‘violence solves problems.’ This can be proven to be true, especially if the child underwent massive amounts of corporal punishment in the early development stages of their lives.
2 - Grounding - There are many types of grounding your child, but the most controversial kind if keeping them barricaded in their room for an extended period of time. Therapists and social workers tend to think that by doing this, you are inhibiting your child from being able to correct their mistake. If your remove the situation from them, then there is no way to ensure they won’t be presented with the situation again once they are out of grounding. Many critics of this feel the message gets lost. However, those who are “pro-grounding” tend to feel that by removing the child from the situation, they have the time to reflect on the events that occurred and led them to their punishment, in hopes that they’ll realize their mistake and not do it again. They don’t feel as though it is unfair to keep a child from privileges like video games, television, and computer time because being without these things helps them realize their mistake.
No matter what your style is, the most important thing you can do is be consistent with whatever choices you make. This will help you avoid sending your child mixed messages from the early years of their lives so they can grasp your expectations from the beginning.
Yep, consistency is key. However, I'm a firm old-school believer in spanking. I turned out pretty damn good, and I have my parents and their willingness to discipline me through spanking, grounding, etc. to thank for that!
ReplyDeleteYep, same here. I don't really see the logic behind the idea that grounding kids keeps them from being able to correct their mistake. It was partly grounding or being on restriction that taught me that something I did was a mistake to begin with. I also got yelled at a lot, but all that did was scare me.
ReplyDeleteIf you spare the rod you spoil the child.
ReplyDelete